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A NEGRO EXPLORER AT THE 
NORTH POLE 



/ 



A 

NEGRO EXPLORER 

AT THE 

NORTH POLE 



BY 

MATTHEW A. HENSON 



WITH A FOREWORD BY 

ROBERT E. PEARY 

REAR ADMIRAL, U. S. N., RETIRED 
AND AN INTRODUCTION BY 

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS 



NEW YORK 

FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 



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Copyright^ igi2, by 
Frederick A. Stokes Company 



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All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign 
languages^ including the Scandinavian 




February ^ igi2 



CI.A300254 



FOREWORD 

pRIENDS of Arctic exploration and dis- 
covery, with whom I have come in con- 
tact, and many whom I know only by letter, 
have been greatly interested in the fact of a 
colored man being" an eiFective member of a 
serious Arctic expedition, and going north, not 
once, but numerous times during a period of 
over twenty years, in a way that showed that 
he not only could and did endure all the stress 
of Arctic conditions and work, but that he 
evidently found pleasure in the work. 

The example and experience of Matthew 
Henson, who has been a member of each and 
of all my Arctic expeditions, since '91 (my 
trip in 1886 was taken before I knew Henson) 
is only another one of the multiplying illus- 
trations of the fact that race, or color, or 
bringing-up, or environment, count nothing 
against a determined heart, if it is backed and 
aided by intelligence. 

Henson proved his fitness by long and 



FOREWORD 

thorough apprenticeship, and his participation 
in the final victory which planted the Stars 
and Stripes at the North Pole, and won for 
this country the international prize of nearly 
four centuries, is a distinct credit and feather 
in the cap of his race. 

As I wired Charles W. Anderson, collector 
of internal revenue, and chairman of the din- 
ner which was given to Henson in New York, 
in October, 1909, on the occasion of the pres- 
entation to him of a gold watch and chain by 
his admirers: 

"I congratulate you and your race upon 
Matthew Henson. He has driven home to 
the world your great adaptability and the fiber 
of which you are made. He has added to the 
moral stature of every intelligent man among 
you. His is the hard-earned reward of tried 
loyalty, persistence, and endurance. He should 
be an everlasting example to your young 
men that these qualities will win whatever ob- 
ject they are directed at. He deserves every 
attention you can show him. I regret that it 
is impossible for me to be present at your 
dinner. My compliments to your assembled 
guests." 

vi 



FOREWORD 

It would be superfluous to enlarge on Hen- 
son in this introduction. His work in the 
north has already spoken for itself and for 
him. His book will speak for itself and him. 

Yet two of the interesting points which 
present themselves in connection with his work 
may be noted. 

Henson, son of the tropics, has proven 
through years, his abihty to stand tropical, 
temperate, and the fiercest stress of frigid, 
chmate and exposure, while on the other hand, 
it is well known that the inhabitants of the 
highest north, tough and hardy as they are to 
the rigors of their own climate, succumb very 
quickly to the vagaries of even a temperate 
climate. The question presents itself at once : 
"Is it a difference in physical fiber, or in brain 
and will power, or is the difference in the 
climatic conditions themselves?" 

Again it is an interesting fact that in the 
final conquest of the "prize of the centuries," 
not alone individuals, but races were repre- 
sented. On that bitter brilhant day in April, 
1909, when the Stars and Stripes floated at the 
North Pole, Caucasian, Ethiopian, and Mon- 
golian stood side by side at the apex of the 

vu 



FOREWORD 

earth, in the harmonious companionship result- 
ing from hard work, exposure, danger, and a 
common object. 

R. E. Peary. 
Washington, Dec, 1911, 



Vlll 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Foreword t 

Introduction . . xv 



CHAPTER I 
The Early Years: Schoolboy, Cabin-Boy, Sea- 
man, AND Lieutenant Peary's Body-Servant — 
First Trips to the Arctic 1 

CHAPTER II 

Off for the Pole — How the Other Explorers 
Looked — The Lamb-Like Esquimos — Arrival 
at Etah 15 

CHAPTER III 
Finding op Rudolph Franke — ^Whitney Landed 
— Trading and Coaling — Fighting the Ice- 
packs 26 

CHAPTER IV 

Preparing for Winter at Cape Sheridan — The 
Arctic Library 35 

ix 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTER V 

Making Peary Sledges — Hunting in the Arctic 
Night — The Excitable Dogs and Their 
Habits 40 

CHAPTER VI 
The Peary Plan — A Rain of Rocks — My 
Friends, the Esquimos 46 

CHAPTER VII 
Sledging to Cape Columbia — Hot Soldering in 
Cold Weather 52 

CHAPTER VIII 
In Camp at Columbia — Literary Igloos — The 
Magnificent Desolation of the Arctic . . 62 

CHAPTER IX 

Ready for the Dash to the Pole — The Com- 
mander's Arrival 70 

CHAPTER X 
Forward! March! 75 

CHAPTER XI 
Fighting up the Polar Sea — Held up by the 

"Big Lead" 78 

X 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XII p^^,^ 

Pioneering THE Way — Breaking Sledges . . 9^ 

CHAPTER XIII 
The Supporting-Parties Begin to Turn Back . 103 

CHAPTER XIV 

Bartlett's Farthest North — His Quiet Good- 
By 116 

CHAPTER XV 
The Pole! 127 

CHAPTER XVI 
The Fast Trek Back to Land 140 

CHAPTER XVII 
Safe on the Roosevelt — Poor Marvin . . .145 

CHAPTER XVIII 
After Musk-Oxen — The Doctor's Scientific 
Expedition 153 

CHAPTER XIX 

The Roosevelt Starts for Home — Esquimo Vil- 
lages — New Dogs and New Dog Fights . . l6l 

xi 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XX p^jjE 

Two Narrow Escapes — Arrival at Etah — Harry 
Whitney — Dr. Cook's Claims 170 

CHAPTER XXI 

Etah to New York — Coming of Mail and Re- 
porters — Home! 180 

Appendix I— Notes on the Esquimos . . . .189 

Appendix II — List op Smith Sound Esquimos . .196 



XU 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

MATTHEW A. HENSON . . . . . Froutlspiece 

FACING 
PAGE 

ROBERT E. PEARY IN HIS NORTH POLE FURS . . 76 
THE POUR NORTH POLE ESKIMOS . . ..77 

CAMP MORRIS K. JESUP AT THE NORTH POLE . 122 

MATTHEW A. HENSON IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE 

SLEDGE JOURNEY TO THE POLE AND BACK . 123 



THE " ROOSEVELT " IN WINTER QUARTERS AT 

CAPE SHERIDAN 138 



MATTHEW A. HENSON IN HIS NORTH POLE FURS, 

TAKEN AFTER HIS RETURN TO CIVILIZATION . 139 



INTRODUCTION 

/^NE of the first questions which Com- 
^-^ mander Peary was asked when he re- 
turned home from his long, patient, and finally 
successful struggle to reach the Pole was how 
it came about that, beside the four Esquimos, 
Matt Henson, a Negro, was the only man to 
whom was accorded the honor of accompany- 
ing him on the final dash to the goal. 

The question was suggested no doubt by 
the thought that it was but natural that the 
positions of greatest responsibility and honor 
on such an expedition would as a matter of 
course fall to the white men of the party 
rather than to a Negro, To this question, 
however. Commander Peary replied, in sub- 
stance : 

"Matthew A. Henson, my Negro assistant, 
has been with me in one capacity or another 
since my second trip to Nicaragua in 1887. 
I have taken him on each and all of my ex- 
peditions, except the first, and also without 

XV 



INTRODUCTION 

exception on each of my farthest sledge trips. 
This position I have given him primarily be- 
cause of his adaptabihty and fitness for the 
work and secondly on account of his loyalty. 
He is a better dog driver and can handle a 
sledge better than any man living, except some 
of the best Esquimo hunters themselves." 

In short, Matthew Henson, next to Com- 
mander Peary, held and still holds the place 
of honor in the history of the expedition that 
finally located the position of the Pole, be- 
cause he was the best man for the place. 
During twenty-three years of faithful service 
he had made himself indispensable. From 
the position of a servant he rose to that of 
companion and assistant in one of the most 
dangerous and difficult tasks that was ever un- 
dertaken by men. In extremity, when both 
the danger and the difficulty were greatest, the 
Commander wanted by his side the man upon 
whose skill and loyalty he could put the most 
absolute dependence and when that man 
turned out to be black instead of white, the 
Commander was not only willing to accept the 
service but was at the same time generous 
enough to acknowledge it. 

xvi 



INTRODUCTION 

There never seems to have been any doubt 
in Commander Peary's mind about Henson's 
part and place in the expedition. 

Matt Henson, who was born in Charles 
County, Maryland, August 8, 1866, began 
life as a cabin-boy on an ocean steamship, and 
before he met Commander Peary had already 
made a voyage to China. He was eighteen 
years old when he made the acquaintance of 
Commander Peary which gave him his chance. 
During the twenty-three years in which he was 
the companion of the explorer he not only had 
time and opportunity to perfect himself in 
his knowledge of the books, but he acquired 
a good practical knowledge of everytliing that 
was a necessary part of the daily life in the 
ice-bound wilderness of polar exploration. 
He was at times a blacksmith, a carpenter, and 
a cook. He was thoroughly acquainted with 
the life, customs, and language of the Es- 
quimos. He himself built the sledges with 
which the journey to the Pole was successfully 
completed. He could not merely drive a dog- 
team or skin a musk-ox with the skill of a 
native, but he was something of a navigator 
as well. In this way Mr. Henson made him- 

xvii 



INTRODUCTION 

self not only the most trusted but the most 
useful member of the expedition. 

I am reminded in this connection that 
IMatthew Henson is not the first colored man 
who by his fidelity and devotion has made him- 
self the trusty companion of the men who have 
explored and opened up the western continent. 
Even in the days when the Negro had Httle or 
no opportunity to show his ability as a leader, 
he proved himself at least a splendid follower, 
and there are few great adventures in which 
the American white man has engaged where 
he has not been accompanied by a colored 
man. 

Nearly all the early Spanish explorers were 
accompanied by Negroes. It is said that the 
first ship built in America was constructed by 
the slaves of Vasquez de Ayllon, who at- 
tempted to establish a Spanish settlement 
where Jamestown, Virginia, was later founded. 
Balboa had 30 Negroes with him, and they as- 
sisted him in constructing the first ship on the 
Pacific coast. Three hundred slaves were 
brought to this country by Cortez, the con- 
queror of Mexico, and it is said that the town 
of Santiago del Principe was founded by 

xviii 



INTRODUCTION 

Negro slaves who later rebelled against their 
Spanish masters. 

Of the story of those earlier Negro ex- 
plorers we have, aside from the Negro Este- 
van or "little Steve," who was the guide and 
leader in the search for the fabulous seven 
cities, almost nothing more than a passing 
reference in the accounts which have come 
down to us. Now, a race which has come up 
from slavery; which is just now for the first 
time learning to build for itself homes, 
churches, schools ; which is learning for the first 
time to start banks, organize insurance com- 
panies, erect manufacturing plants, establish 
hospitals; a race which is doing all the funda- 
mental things for the first time; which has, in 
short, its history before it instead of behind; 
such a race in such conditions needs for its own 
encouragement, as well as to justify the hopes 
of its friends, the records of the members of 
the race who have been a part of any great and 
historic achievement. 

For this reason, as well as for others; for 
the sake of my race as well as the truth of his- 
tory; I am proud and glad to welcome this 
account of his adventure from a man who has 

xix 



INTRODUCTION 

not only honored the race of which he is a 
member, but has proven again that courage, 
fidelity, and ability are honored and rewarded 
under a black skin as well as under a white. 

Booker T. Washington, 

Principal, Tuskegee Normal 
and Industrial Institute. 



XX 



A NEGRO EXPLORER AT THE 
NORTH POLE 



A NEGRO EXPLORER AT 
THE NORTH POLE 

CHAPTER I 

THE EARLY YEARS: SCHOOLBOY, CABIN-BOY, 
SEAMAN, AND LIEUTENANT PEARy's BODY- 
SERVANT FIRST TRIPS TO THE ARCTIC 

1 X JHEN the news of the discovery of the 
^ ^ North Pole, by Commander Peary, was 
first sent to the world, a distinguished citizen 
of New York City, well versed in the affairs 
of the Peary Arctic Club, made the statement, 
that he was sure that Matt Henson had been 
with Commander Peary on the day of the dis- 
covery. There were not many people who 
knew who Henson was, or the reason why the 
gentleman had made the remark, and, when 
asked why he was so certain, he explained that, 
for the best part of the twenty years of Com- 
mander Peary's Arctic work, his faithful and 

1 



EARLY YEARS 

often only companion was Matthew Alexan- 
der Henson. 

To-day there is a more general knowledge 
of Commander Peary, his work and his suc- 
cess, and a vague understanding of the fact 
that Commander Peary's sole companion from 
the realm of civilization, when he stood at the 
North Pole, was Matthew A. Henson, a Col- 
ored Man. 

To satisfy the demand of perfectly natural 
curiosity, I have undertaken to write a brief 
autobiography, giving particularly an account 
of my Arctic work. 

I was born in Charles County, Maryland, 
August 8, 1866. The place of my birth was 
on the Potomac River, about forty-four miles 
below Washington, D. C. Slavery days were 
over forever when I was born. Besides, my 
parents were both free born before me, and in 
my mother's veins ran some white blood. At 
an early age, my parents were induced to 
leave the country and remove to Washington, 
D. C. My mother died when I was seven 
years old. I was taken in charge by my uncle, 
who sent me to school, the "N Street School" 
in Washington, D. C, which I attended for 

2 



EARLY YEARS 

over six years. After leaving school I went 
to Baltimore, Md., where I shipped as cabin- 
boy, on board a vessel bound for China. 
After my first voyage I became an able- 
bodied seaman, and for four years followed 
the sea in that capacity, sailing to China, 
Japan, Manilla, North Africa, Spain, France, 
and through the Black Sea to Southern Rus- 
sia. 

It was while I was in Washington, D. C, 
in 1888, that I first attracted the attention of 
Commander Peary, who at that time was a 
civil engineer in the United States Navy, with 
the rank of lieutenant, and it was with the in- 
stinct of my race that I recognized in him the 
qualities that made me willing to engage my- 
self in his service. I accompanied him as his 
body-servant to Nicaragua. I was his mes- 
senger at the League Island Navy Yard, and 
from the beginning of his second expedition to 
the Arctic regions, in 1891, I have been a 
member of every expedition of his, in the 
capacity of assistant : a term that covers a mul- 
titude of duties, abilities, and responsibilities. 

The narrative that follows is a record of the 
last and successful expedition of the Peary 

3 



EARLY YEARS 

Arctic Club, which had as its attainment the 
discovery of the North Pole, and is compiled 
from notes made by me at different times dur- 
ing the course of the expedition. I did en- 
deavor to keep a diary or journal of daily 
events during my last trip, and did not find it 
difficult aboard the ship while sailing north, 
or when in winter-quarters at Cape Sheridan, 
but I found it impossible to make daily entries 
while in the field, on account of the constant 
necessity of concentrating my attention on the 
real business of the expedition. Entries were 
made daily of the records of temperature and 
the estimates of distance traveled; and when 
solar observations were made the results were 
always carefully noted. There were opportu- 
nities to complete the brief entries on several 
occasions while out on the ice, notably the six 
days' enforced delay at the "Big Lead," 84° 
north, the twelve hours preceding the return 
of Captain Bartlett at 8T° 47' north, and the 
thirty-three hours at North Pole, while Com- 
mander Peary was determining to a certainty 
his position. During the return from the 
Pole to Cape Columbia, we were so urged by 
the knowledge of the supreme necessity of 

4 



EARLY YEAKS 

speed that the thought of recording the events 
of that part of the journey did not occur to 
me so forcibly as to compel me to pay heed 
to it, and that story was written aboard the 
ship while waiting for favorable conditions to 
sail toward home lands. 

It was in June, 1891, that I started on my 
first trip to the Arctic regions, as a member 
of what was known as the "North Greenland 
Expedition." Mrs. Peary accompanied her 
husband, and among the members of the ex- 
pedition were Dr. Frederick A. Cook, of 
Brooklyn, N. Y., Mr. Langdon Gibson, of 
Flushing, N. Y., and Mr. Eivind Astriip,| 
of Christiania, Norway, who had the honor of 
being the companion of Commander Peary in 
the first crossing of North Greenland — and 
of having an Esquimo at Cape York become 
so fond of him that he named his son for him ! 
It was on this voyage north that Peary's leg 
was broken. 

Mr. John M. Verhoeff, a stalwart young 
Kentuckian, was also an enthusiastic member 
of the party. When the expedition was ready 
to sail home the following summer, he lost his 

5 



EARLY YEARS 

life by falling in a crevasse in a glacier. His 
body was never recovered. On the first and 
the last of Peary's expeditions, success was 
marred by tragedy. On the last expedition. 
Professor Ross G. Marvin, of Cornell Uni- 
versity, lost his life by being drowned in the 
Arctic Ocean, on his return from his farthest 
north, a farther north than had ever been 
made by any other explorers except the mem- 
bers of the last expedition. Both VerhoeiF 
and Marvin were good friends of mine, and I 
respect and venerate their memories. 

Naturally the impressions formed on my 
first visit to the Land of Ice and Snow were 
the most lasting, but in the coming years I 
was to learn more and more that such a life 
was no picnic, and to realize what primitive 
life meant. I was to live with a people who, 
the scientists stated, represented the earliest 
form of human life, living in what is known as 
the Stone Age, and I was to revert to that 
stage of life by leaps and bounds, and to 
emerge from it by the same sudden means. 
Many and many a time, for periods covering 
more than twelve months, I have been to all 
intents an Esquimo, with Esquimos for com- 

6 



EARLY YEARS 

pardons, speaking their language, dressing in 
the same kind of clothes, living in the same 
kind of dens, eating the same food, enjoying 
their pleasures, and frequently sharing their 
griefs. I have come to love these people. I 
know every man, woman, and child in their 
tribe. They are my friends and they regard 
me as theirs. 

After the first return to civilization, I was 
to come back to the savage, ice- and rock-bound 
country seven times more. It was in June, 
1898, that I again sailed north with Com- 
mander Peary and his party on board the 
Falcon^ a larger ship than the KitCj the one we 
sailed north in on the previous expedition, and 
with a much larger equipment, including sev- 
eral burros from Colorado, which were in- 
tended for ice-cap work, but which did not 
make good, making better dog-food instead. 
Indeed the dogs made life a burden for the 
poor brutes from the very start. Mrs. Peary 
was again a member of the expedition, as well 
as another woman, Mrs. Cross, who acted as 
Mrs. Peary's maid and nurse. It was on this 
trip that I adopted the orphan Esquimo boy, 
Kudlooktoo, his mother having died just pre- 

7 



EARLY YEARS 

vious to our arrival at the Red Cliffs. After 
this boy was washed and scrubbed by me, his 
long hair cut short, and his greasy, dirty 
clothes of skins and furs burned, a new suit 
made of odds and ends collected from differ- 
ent wardrobes on the ship made him a present- 
able Young American. I was proud of him, 
and he of me. He learned to speak English 
and slept underneath my bunk. 

This expedition was larger in numbers than 
the previous one, but the results, owing to the 
impossible weather conditions, were by no 
means successful, and the following season all 
of the expedition returned to the United States 
except Commander Peary, Hugh J. Lee, 
and myself. When the expedition returned, 
there were two who went back who had not 
come north with us. Miss Marie Ahnighito 
Peary, aged about ten months, who first saw 
the light of day at Anniversary Lodge on the 
12th of the previous September, was taken by 
her mother to her kinf oiks in the South. Mrs. 
Peary also took a young Esquimo girl, well 
known among us as "Miss Bill," along with 
her, and kept her for nearly a year, when she 
gladly permitted her to return to Greenland 

8 



EARLY YEARS 

and her own people. Miss Bill is now grown 
up, and has been married three times and 
widowed, not by death but by desertion. She 
is known as a "Holy Terror." I do not know 
the reason why, but I have my suspicions. 

The memory of the mnter of 1894 and 1895 
and the summer following will never leave me. 
The events of the journey to 87° 6' in 1906 and 
the discovery of the North Pole in 1909 are in- 
delibly impressed on my mind, but the recol- 
lections of the long race with death across the 
450 miles of the ice-cap of North Greenland 
in 1895, with Commander Peary and Hugh 
Lee, are still the most vivid. 

For weeks and weeks, across the seemingly 
never-ending wastes of the ice-cap of North 
Greenland, I marched "v^dth Peary and Lee 
from Independence Bay and the land beyond 
back to Anniversary Lodge. We started on 
April 1, 1895, with three sledges and thirty- 
seven dogs, with the object of determining 
to a certainty the northeastern terminus of 
Greenland. We reached the northern land 
beyond the ice-cap, but the condition of the 
country did not allow much exploration, and 
after killing a few musk-oxen we started on 

9 



EARLY YEARS 

June 1 to make our return. We had one 
siedge and nine dogs. 

We reached Anniversary Lodge on June 
25, with one dog. 

The Grim Destroyer had been our constant 
companion, and it was months before I fully 
recovered from the effects of that struggle. 
When I left for home and God's Country the 
following September, on board the good old 
Kite, it was with the strongest resolution to 
never again ! no more ! forever ! leave my happy 
home in warmer lands. 

Nevertheless, the following summer I was 
again * 'Northward Bound," with Commander 
Peary, to help him secure, and bring to New 
York, the three big meteorites that he and Lee 
had discovered during the winter of 1894- 
1895. 

The meteorites known as "The Woman" 
and "The Dog" were secured with compara- 
tive ease, and the work of getting the large 
seventy-ton meteor, known as "The Tent," 
into such a position as to insure our securing 
it the following summer, was done, so it was 
not strange that the following summer I was 

10 



EARLY YEARS 

again in Greenland, but the meteorite was not 
brought away that season. 

It is well known that the chief characteris- 
tic of Commander Peary is persistency which, 
coupled with fortitude, is the secret of his suc- 
cess. The next summer, 1897, he was again 
at the island after his prize, and he got it this 
time and brought it safely to New York, 
where it now reposes in the "American Mu- 
seum of Natural History," As usual I was 
a member of the party, and my back still aches 
when I think of the hard work I did to help 
load that monster aboard the Hope, 

It was during this voyage that Commander 
Peary announced his determination to dis- 
cover the North Pole, and the following 
years (from 1898 to 1902) were spent in the 
Arctic. 

In 1900, the American record of Farthest 
North, held by Lockwood and Brainard, was 
equaled and exceeded; their cairn visited and 
their records removed. On April 21, 1902, a 
new American record of 84° 17' was made by 
Commander Peary, further progress north 
being frustrated by a lack of provisions and by 
a lane of open water, more than a mile wide. 

11 



EARLY YEARS 

This lead or lane of open water I have since 
become more familiarly acquainted with. We 
have called it many names, but it is popularly 
known as the "Big Lead." Going north, 
meeting it can be depended upon. It is situ- 
ated just a few miles north of the 84th paral- 
lel, and is believed to mark the continental 
shelf of the land masses in the Northern Hem- 
isphere. 

During the four years from 1898 to 1902, 
which were continuously spent in the regions 
about North Greenland, we had every experi- 
ence, except death, that had ever fallen to the 
lot of the explorers who had preceded us, and 
more than once we looked death squarely in 
the face. Besides, we had many experiences 
that earlier explorers did not meet. In Jan- 
uary, 1899, Commander Peary froze his feet 
so badly that all but one of his toes fell 
off. 

After the return home, in 1902, it was three 
years before Commander Peary made another 
attack on the Pole, but during those years he 
was not resting. 

He was preparing to launch his final and 
"sincerely to be hoped" successful expedition, 

12 



EARLY YEARS 

and in July, 1905, in the newly built ship, 
Roosevelt^ we were again "Poleward-bound." 
The following September, the Roosevelt 
reached Cape Sheridan, latitude 82° 27' north, 
under her own steam, a record unequaled by 
any other vessel, sail or steam. 

Early the next year, the negotiation of the 
Ai'ctic Ocean was commenced, not as oceans 
usually are negotiated, but as this ocean must 
be, by men, sledges, and dogs. The field party 
consisted of twenty-six men, twenty sledges, 
and one hundred and thirty dogs. 

That was an open winter and an early 
spring, very desirable conditions in some parts 
of the world, but very undesirable to us on the 
northern coast of Greenland. The ice-pack 
began disintegrating much too early that year 
to suit, but we pushed on, and had it not been 
for furious storms enforcing delays and losses 
of many precious days, the Pole would have 
been reached. As it was. Commander Peary 
and his party got to 87° 6"^ north, thereby 
breaking all records^ and in spite of incredible 
hardships, hunger and cold, returned safely 
with all of the expedition, and on Christmas 
Eve the Roosevelt, after a most trying voy- 

13 



EARLY YEARS 

age, entered 'New York harbor, somewhat bat- 
tered but still seaworthy. 

Despite the fact that it was to be his last 
attempt, Commander Peary no sooner reached 
home than he announced his intention to re- 
turn, this time to be the last, and this time to 
win. 

However, a year intervened, and it was not 
until July 6, 1908, with the God- Speed and 
good wishes of President Roosevelt, that the 
good ship named in his honor set sail again. 
The narrative of that voyage, and the story 
of the discovery of the North Pole, follow. 

The ages of the wild, misgiving mystery of 
the North Pole are over, to-day, and forever 
it stands under the folds of Old Glory. 



14 



CHAPTER II 

OFF FOR THE POLE HOW THE OTHER EXPLOR- 
ERS LOOKED THE LAMB-LIKE ESQUIMOS 

^ARRIVAL AT ETAH 

JULY 6, 1908: We're off! For a year 
^ and a half I have waited for this order, 
and now we have cast off. The shouting and 
the tumult ceases, * the din of whistles, bells, 
and throats dies out, and once again the long, 
slow surge of the ocean hits the good ship that 
we have embarked in. It was at one-thirty 
p. M. to-day that I saw the last hawse-line cast 
adrift, and felt the throb of the engines of our 
own ship. Chief Wardwell is on the job, and 
from now on it is due north. 

Oyster Bay, Long Island Sound: We are 
expecting President Roosevelt. The ship has 
been named in his honor and has already made 
one voyage towards the North Pole, farther 
north than any ship has ever made. 

July 7 : At anchor, the soft wooded hills of 

15 



OFF FOR THE POLE 

Long" Island give me a curious impression. I 
am waiting for the command to attack the 
savage ice- and rock-bound fortress of the 
North, and here instead we are at anchor in the 
neighborhood of sheep grazing in green fields. 

Sydney, N. S., July 17, 1908: All of the 
expedition are aboard and those going home 
have gone. Mrs. Peary and the children, Mr. 
Borup's father, and Mr. Harry Whitney, and 
some other guests were the last to leave the 
Roosevelt, and have given us a last good-by 
from the tug, which came alongside to take 
them oif . 

Good-by all. Every one is sending back a 
word to some one he has left behind, but I 
have said my good-bys a long time ago, and 
as I waved my hand in parting salutation to 
the little group on the deck of the tug, my 
thoughts were with my wife, and I hoped when 
she next heard of me it would be with feelings 
of joy and happiness, and that she would be 
glad she had permitted me to leave her for an 
absence that might never end. 

The tenderfeet, as the Commander calls 
them, are the Doctor, Professor MacMillan, 
and young Mr. Borup. The Doctor is a fine- 

16 



OFF FOR THE POLE 

looking, big fellow, John W. Goodsell, and 
has a swarthy complexion and straight hair; 
on meeting me he told me that he was well ac- 
quainted with me by reputation, and hoped to 
know me more intimately. 

Professor Donald B. MacMillan is a pro- 
fessor in a college in Massachusetts, near 
Worcester, and I am going to cultivate his 
acquaintance. 

Mr. George Borup is the kid, only twenty- 
one years old but well set up for his age, al- 
ways ready to laugh, and has thick, curly hair. 
I understand he is a record-breaker in athletics. 
He will need his athletic ability on this trip. 
I am making no judgments or comments on 
these fellows now. Wait; I have seen too 
many enthusiastic starters, and I am sorry to 
say some of them did not finish well. 

All of the rest of the members of the expe- 
dition are the same as were on the first trip of 
the Roosevelt: — Commander Peary, Captain 
Bartlett, Professor Marvin, Chief Engineer 
Wardwell, Charley Percy the steward, and 
myself. The crew has been selected by Cap- 
tain Bartlett, and are mostly strangers to 
me. 

17 



OFF FOR THE POLE 

Commander Peary is too well known for me 
to describe him at length; thick reddish hair 
turning gray; heavy, bushy eyebrows shading 
his ''sharpshooter's eyes" of steel gray, and 
long mustache. His hair grows rapidly and, 
when on the march, a thick heavy beard quickly 
appears. He is six feet tall, very graceful, 
and well built, especially about the chest and 
shoulders ; long arms, and legs slightly bowed. 
Since losing his toes, he walks with a peculiar 
slide-like stride. He has a voice clear and 
loud, and words never fail him. 

Captain Bartlett is about my height and 
weight. He has short, curly, light-brown hair 
and red cheeks; is slightly round-shouldered, 
due to the large shoulder-muscles caused by 
pulling the oars, and is as quick in his actions 
as a cat. His manner and conduct indicate 
that he has always been the leader of his crowd 
from boyhood up, and there is no man on this 
ship that he would be afraid to tackle. He is 
a young man (thirty-three years old) for a 
ship captain, but he knows his job. 

Professor Marvin is a quiet, earnest person, 
and has had plenty of practical experience be- 
sides his splendid education. He is rapidly 

18 



OFF FOR THE POLE 

growing bald; his face is rather thin, and his 
neck is long. He has taken great interest in 
me and, being a teacher, has tried to teach me. 
Although I hope to perfect myself in naviga- 
tion, my knowledge so far consists only of 
knot and splice seamansliip, and I need to mas- 
ter the mathematical end. 

The Chief Engineer, Mr. Wardwell, is a 
fine-looking, ruddy-complexioned giant, with 
the most honest eyes I have ever looked into. 
His hair is thinning and is almost pure white, 
and I should judge him to be about forty-five 
years old. He has the greatest patience, and 
I have never seen him lose his temper or get 
rattled. 

Charley Percy is Commander Peary's old- 
est hand, next to me. He is our steward, and 
sees to it that we are properly fed while 
aboard ship, and he certainly does see to it 
with credit to himself. 

From Sydney to Hawks Harbor, where we 
met the Erik^ has been uneventful except for 
the odor of the Erik, which is loaded wdth 
whale-meat and can be smelled for miles. We 
passed St. Paul's Island and Cape St. George 
early in the day and through the Straits of 

19 



OFF FOR THE POLE 

Belle Isle to Hawks Harbor, where there is a 
whale-factory. From here we leave for Turn- 
avik. 

We have been racing with the Erik all day, 
and have beaten her to this place. Captain 
Bartlett's father owns it, and we loaded a lot 
of boots and skins, which the Captain's father 
had ready for us. From here we sail to the 
Esquimo country of North Greenland, with- 
out a stop if possible, as the Commander has 
no intention of visiting any of the Danish set- 
tlements in South Greenland. 

Cape York is our next point, and the ship 
is sailing free. Aside from the excitement of 
the start, and the honor of receiving the per- 
sonal visit of the President, and his words of 
encouragement and cheer, the trip so far has 
been uneventful; and I have busied myself in 
putting my cabin in order, and making myself 
useful in overhauling and stowing provisions 
in the afterhold. 

July 24: Still northward-bound, with the 
sea rolling and washing over the ship ; and the 
Erik in the distance seems to be getting her 
share of the wash. She is loaded heavily with 
fresh whale-meat, and is purposely keeping in 

20 



OFF FOR THE POLE 

leeward of us to spare us the discomfort of the 
odor. 

July 25 and 26 : Busy with my carpenter's 
kit in the Commander's cabin and elsewhere. 
There has been heavy rain and seas, and we 
have dropped the Erik completely. The 
Roosevelt is going fine. We can see the 
Greenland coast plainly and to-day, the 29th, 
we raised and passed Disco Island. Icebergs 
on all sides. The light at midnight is almost 
as bright as early evening twilight in New 
York on the Fourth of July and the ice-blink 
of the interior ice-cap is quite plain. We 
have gone through Baffin's Bay with a rush 
and raised Duck Island about ten a. m. and 
passed and dropped it by two P. m. 

I was ashore on Duck Island in 1891, on my 
first voyage north, and I remember distinctly 
the cairn the party built and the money they 
deposited in it. I wonder if it is still there? 
There is little use for money up here, and the 
place is seldom visited except by men from the 
whalers, when their ships are locked in by ice. 

From here it is two hundred miles due north 
to Cape York. 

August 1 : Arrived at Cape York Bay and 

21 



OFF FOR THE POLE 

went ashore with the party to communicate 
with the Esquimos of whom there were three 
famihes. They remembered us and were dan- 
cing up and down the shore, and waving to us 
in welcome, and as soon as the bow of the boat 
had grazed the little beach, willing hands 
helped to run her up on shore. These people 
are hospitable and helpful, and always willing, 
sometimes too willing. As an example, I will 
tell how, at a settlement farther north, we 
were going ashore in one of the whale-boats. 
Captain Bartlett was forward, astraddle of the 
bow with the boat-hook in his hands to fend 
off the blocks of ice, and knew perfectly well 
where he wanted to land, but the group of ex- 
cited Esquimos were in his way and though he 
ordered them back, they continued running 
about and getting in his way. In a very short 
while the Captain lost patience and commenced 
to talk loudly and with excitement; immedi- 
ately Sipsoo took up his language and parrot- 
like started to repeat the Captain's exact 

words : "Get back there, get back — ^how in 

do you expect me to make a landing?" And 
thus does the innocent lamb of the North ac- 
quire a civilized tongue. 

22 



OFF FOR THE POLE 

It is amusing to hear Kudlooktoo in the 
most charming manner give Charley a cussing 
that from any one else would cause Charley to 
break his head open. 

For the last week I have been busy, with 
''Matt! The Commander wants you," "Matt 
do this," and "Matt do that," and with going 
ashore and trading for skins, dogs, lines, and 
other things ; and also walrus-hunting. I have 
been up to my neck in work, and have had 
small opportunity to keep my diary up to date. 
We have all put on heavy clothing; not the 
regular fur clothes for the winter, but our 
thickest civilized clothing, that we would wear 
in midwinter in the States, In the middle of 
the day, if the sun shines, the heat is felt ; but 
if foggy or cloudy, the heavy clothing is com- 
fortable. 

All of the Esquimos want to come aboard 
and stay aboard. Some we want and will take 
along, but there are others we will not have or 
take along on a bet, and the pleasant duty of 
telhng them so and putting them ashore falls 
to me. It is not a pleasant job to disappoint 
these people, but they would be a burden to us 
and in our way. Besides, we have left them a 

23 



OFF FOR THE POLE 

plentiful supply of needfuls, and our trading 
with them has been fair and generous. 

The "Crow's-Nest" has been rigged upon 
the mainmast, and this morning, after break- 
fast, Mr. Whitney, three Esquimos, and my- 
self started in Mr. Whitney's motor-boat to 
hunt walrus. The motor gave out very short- 
ly after the start, and the oars had to be used. 
We were fortunate in getting two walrus, 
which I shot, and then we returned to the ship 
for the whale-boat. We left the ship with 
three more Esquimos in the whale-boat, and 
got four more walrus. 

Sunday, at Kangerdlooksoah ; the land of 
the reindeer, and the one pleasant appearing 
spot on this coast. Mr. Whitney and his six 
Esquimo guides have gone hunting for deer, 
and I have been ashore to trade for dogs and 
furs, and have gotten twenty-seven dogs, seal- 
skin-lines for lashings, a big bearskin, and 
some foxskins. I try to get furskins from 
animals that were killed when in full fur and 
before they have started to shed, but some of 
the skins I have traded in are raw, and will 
have to be dried. 

I have had the disagreeable job of putting 

24 



OFF FOR THE POLE 

the undesirable ashore, and it was like han- 
dling a lot of sulky school children. 

Seegloo, the dog-owner, is invited to bring 
his pack aboard and is easily persuaded. He 
will get a Springfield rifle and loading-outfit 
and also a Winchester, if he will sell, and he is 
more than willing. 

And this is the story of day after day from 
Cape York to Etah Harbor, which we reached 
on August 12. 



25 



CHAPTER III 

FINDING OF RUDOLPH FRANKE — WHITNEY 

LANDED TRADING AND COALING 

FIGHTING THE ICE-PACKS 

A T Etah we take on the final load of coal 
^^ from the Erik and the other supplies she 
has for us, and from now on it will be farewell 
to all the world ; we will be alone with our com- 
pany, and our efforts will be towards the north 
and our evasive goal. 

At Etah, on going ashore, we were met by 
the most hopelessly dirty, unkempt, filth-Ut- 
tered human being any of us had ever seen, 
or could ever have imagined; a white man with 
long matted hair and beard, who could speak 
very little English and that only between 
cries, whimperings, and whines, and whose legs 
were swollen out of all shape from the scurvy. 
He was Rudolph Franke and had been left 
here the year before by Dr. F. A. Cook, an 
old acquaintance of mine, who had been a 

26 



AT ETAH 

member of other expeditions of the Comman- 
der's. 

Franke was in a bad way, and the burden of 
his wail was, "Take me away from tliis, I have 
permission, see, here is Dr. Cook's letter," and 
he showed a letter from Dr. Cook, authorizing 
him to leave, if opportunity offered. Dr. 
Goodsell looked him over and pronounced him 
unfit to remain in the Arctic any longer than 
it would take a ship to get him out, and the 
Commander had him kindly treated, cleaned, 
medicated, and placed aboard the Erik. The 
poor fellow's spirits commenced to rise im- 
mediately and there is good chance of his recov- 
ery and safe return home. 

We learn that Dr. Cook, with two Esquimo 
boys, is over on the Grant Land side, and in 
probably desperate circumstances, if he is still 
alive. The Commander has issued orders in 
writing to Murphy and Billy Pritchard to be 
on the lookout for him and give him all the 
help he may need, and has also instructed the 
Esquimos to keep careful watch for any traces 
of him, while on their hunting trips. 

There is a cache of Dr. Cook's provisions 
here, which Franke turned over to the Com- 

27 



AT ETAH 

mander, and Mr. Whitney has agreed to help 
Murphy and Billy to guard it. 

Mr. Harry Whitney is one of the party of 
men who came here on the Erik to hunt in this 
region, and he has decided to stay here at Etah 
for the winter and wait for a ship to take him 
out next summer. The other two members of 
the hunting-party, Mr. Earned and Mr. Nor- 
ton, returned on the Erik, If Mr. Whitney 
had asked me my advice, I would not have 
suggested that he remain, because, although he 
has a fine equipment, there will not be much 
sport in his experience, and there will be a 
great deal of roughness. He will have to be- 
come like the Esquimos and they will be prac- 
tically his only companions. However, Mr. 
Whitney has had a talk with the Commander 
in the cabin of the Roosevelt, and the Com- 
mander has given his consent and best wishes. 
Mr. Whitney's supplies have been unloaded 
and some additions from the Erik made, and 
there is no reason to fear for his safety. 

August 8, 1908: My forty-second birth- 
day. I have not mentioned it to any one, and 
there's only one other besides myself who 
knows that to-day I am twice three times seven 

28 



AT ETAH 

years of age. Seventeen years ago to-day, 
Commander Peary, hobbling about on his 
crutches with his right leg in a sling, insisted 
on giving me a birthday party. I was twenty- 
five years old then, and on the threshold of my 
Arctic experience. Never before in my life 
had the anniversary of my birth been cele- 
brated, and to have a party given in my honor 
touched me deeply. Mrs. Peary was a mem- 
ber of the expedition then, and I suppose that 
it was due to her that the occasion was made 
a memorable one for me. Last year, I was 
aboard the Roosevelt in the shadow of the 
*'Statue of Liberty" in New York Bay, and 
was treated to a pleasant surprise by my wife. 

Commander Peary gave me explicit instruc- 
tions to get Nipsangwah and Myah ashore as 
quick as the Creator would let them, but to be 
sure that their seven curs were kept aboard; 
these two huskies having exalted ideas as to 
their rights and privileges. Egingwah, or 
Karko as we knew him, and Koodlootinah and 
his family were to come aboard. 

Acting under orders, I obeyed, but it was 
not a pleasant task. I have known men who 
needed dogs less to pay a great deal more for 

29 



AT ETAH 

one pup than was paid to Nipsangwah for his 
pack of seven. The dogs are a valuable asset 
to this people and these two men were de- 
pendent on their little teams to a greater ex- 
tent than on the plates and cups of tin which 
they received in exchange for them. 

August 8-9, 1908: Have been trading 
with the natives without any trouble ; they will 
give anything I want for anything that I have 
that they want. 'Tt's a shame to take the 
money," or, as money is unknown up here and 
has no value, I should say that I should be 
ashamed to take such an advantage of them, 
but if I should stop to consider the freight- 
rates to this part of the world, no doubt a 
hatchet or a knife is worth just what it can be 
traded in for. 

The ship has been rapidly littering up until 
it is now in a most perfect state of dirtiness, 
and in order to get the supplies from the Erikj 
coal, etc., the movable articles, dogs, Esquimos, 
etc., will have to be shifted and yours truly is 
helping. 

The dogs have been landed on a small island 
in the bay, where they are safe and cannot run 
away, and they can have a glorious time, fight- 

30 



AT ETAH 

ing and getting acquainted with each other. 
Some of the Esquimos' goods are ashore, some 
aboard the Erik, and the rest forward on the 
roof of the deck-house, while the Roosevelt is 
getting her coal aboard. 

The loading of the meat and coal has been 
done by the crews of the ships, assisted and 
hampered by some of the Esquimos, and I 
have been walrus-hunting, and taxidermizing ; 
that is, I have skinned a pair of walrus so 
that they can be stuffed and mounted. This 
job has been very carefully, and I tliink suc- 
cessfully, done and the skins have been towed 
ashore. The hearts, livers, and kidneys have 
been brought aboard and the meat is to be 
loaded to-morrow. Two boat-loads of bones 
have been rowed over to Dog Island for dog- 
food. 

Coaling and stowing of whale-meat aboard 
the Roosevelt was finished at noon, August 
15, and all day Sunday, August 16, all hands 
were at the job transferring to the Erik the 
boxes of provisions that were to be left at the 
cache at Etah. Bos'n Murphy and Billy 
Pritchard, the cabin-boy, are to stay as guard 
until the return of the Roosevelt next summer. 

31 



FIGHTING THE ICE 

A blinding storm of wind and snow prevented 
the Roosevelt from starting until about two- 
thirty p. M.5 when, with all the dogs a-howling, 
the whistle tooting, and the crew and members 
cheering, we steamed out of the Harbor into 
Smith Sound, and a thick fog which compelled 
half-speed past Littleton Island and into 
heavy pack-ice. 

Captain Bartlett was navigating the ship 
and his eagle eye found a lane of open water 
from Cape Sabine to Bache Peninsula and 
open water from EUesmere Land half-way 
across Buchanan Bay, but this lead closed 
on him, and the Roosevelt had to stop. Late 
in the evening, the ice started to move and 
grind alongside of the ship, but did no damage 
except scaring the Esquimos. Daylight still 
kept up and we went to sleep with our boots 
on! 

From Etah to Cape Sheridan, which was 
to be our last point north in the ship, con- 
sumed twenty-one days of the hardest kind 
of work imaginable for a ship ; actually fight- 
ing for every foot of the way against the al- 
most impassable ice. For another ship it 
would have been impassable, but the Roosevelt 

32 



FIGHTING THE ICE 

was built for this kind of work, and her worth 
and abihty had been proven on the voyage of 
1905. The constant jolting, bumping, and 
jarring against the ice-packs, forwards and 
backwards, the sudden stops and starts and 
the frequent storms made work and comfort 
aboard ship all but impossible. 

Had it been possible to be ashore at some 
point of vantage, to witness the struggles of 
our little ship against her giant adversaries 
would have been an impressive sight. 

I will not dwell on the trying hours and 
days of her successful battle, the six days of 
watching and waiting for a chance to get out 
of our dangerous predicament in Lincoln Bay, 
the rounding of the different capes en route, 
or the horrible jams in Lady Franklin Bay. 
The good ship kept at the fight and won by 
sheer bulldogged tenacity and pluck. Life 
aboard her during those twenty-one days was 
not one sweet song, but we did not suffer un- 
usually, and a great deal of necessary work 
was done on our equipments. The Esquimo 
women sewed diligently on the fur clothing we 
were to wear during the coming winter and 
I worked on the sledges that were to be used. 

33 



FIGHTING THE ICE 

Provisions were packed in compact shape and 
every one was busy. Two caches of pro- 
visions were made ashore in the event of an 
overland retreat, and the small boats were fully 
provisioned as a precaution against the loss 
of the ship. We did not dwell on the thought 
of losing it, but we took no chances. 

Meeting with continual rebuffs, but per- 
sistently forging ahead and gaining de- 
liberately day by day, the Roosevelt pushed 
steadily northward through the ice-encumbered 
waters of Kane Basin, Kennedy and Robeson 
Channels, and around the northeast corner of 
Grant Land to the shelter of Cape Sheridan, 
which was reached early in the afternoon of 
September 5, 1908. 



34 



CHAPTER IV 

PREPARING FOR WINTER AT CAPE SHERIDAN — 
THE ARCTIC LIBRARY 

NOW that we had reached Cape Sheridan 
in the ship, every one's spirits seemed to 
soar. It was still daylight, with the sun above 
the horizon, and although two parties had been 
landed for hunting, no one seemed to be in 
any particular hurry. The weather was cold 
but calm, and even in the rush of unloading 
the ship I often heard the hum of songs, and 
had it not been for the fur- jacketed men who 
were doing the work, it would not have been 
difficult for me to imagine myself in a much 
warmer climate. 

Of course! in accordance with my agree- 
ment with some other members of this expe- 
dition I kept my eye on the Commander, and 
although it was not usual for him to break 
forth into song, I frequently heard him hum- 

35 



PREPARING FOR WINTER 

ming a popular air, and I knew that for the 
present all was well with him. 

With the ship lightened, by being unloaded, 
to a large extent, of all of the stores, she did 
not very appreciably rise, but the Commander 
and the Captain agreed that she could be 
safely worked considerably closer to the shore, 
inside of the tide-crack possibly; and the 
Roosevelt was made fast to the ice-foot of 
the land, with a very considerable distance be- 
tween her and open water. Her head was 
pointed due north, and affairs aboard her as- 
sumed regulation routine. The stores ashore 
were contracted, and work on getting them into 
shape for building temporary houses was soon 
under way. The boxes of provisions them- 
selves formed the walls, and the roofing was 
made from makeshifts such as sails, overturned 
whale-boats, and rocks; and had the ship got 
adrift and been lost, the houses on shore would 
have proved ample and comfortable for hous- 
ing the expedition. 

A ship, and a good one like the Roosevelt, 
is the prime necessity in getting an expedition 
within striking distance of the Pole, but once 
here the ship (and no other boat, but the 

36 



PREPARING FOR WINTER 

Roosevelt could get here) is not indispensable, 
and accordingly all precautions against her 
loss were taken. 

It is a fact that Arctic expeditions have 
lost their ships early in the season and in spite 
of the loss have done successful work. The 
last Ziegler Polar Expedition of 1903-1905 
is an example. In the ship America they 
reached Crown Prince Rudolph Island on the 
European route, and shortly after landing, in 
the beginning of the long night, the America 
went adrift, and has never been seen since. 
It is not difficult to imagine her still drifting 
in the lonely Arctic Ocean, with not a soul 
aboard (a modern phantom ship in a sea of 
eternal ice). A more likely idea is that she 
has been crushed by the ice, and sunk, and the 
skeleton of her hulk strewn along the bottom of 
the sea, full many a fathom deep. 

However, the depressing probabilities of the 
venture we are on are not permitted to worry 
us. The Roosevelt is a "Homer" and we con- 
fidently expect to have her take us back to 
home and loved ones. 

In the meantime, I have a steady job 

37 



PREPARING FOR WINTER 

carpentering, also interpreting, barbering, 
tailoring, dog-training, and chasing Esquimos 
out of my quarters. The Esquimos have the 
run of the ship and get everywhere except into 
the Commander's cabin, which they have been 
taught to regard as "The Holy of Holies." 
With the help of a sign which tersely pro- 
claims "No Admittance," painted on a board 
and nailed over the door, they are without 
much difficulty restrained from going in. 

The Commander's stateroom is a state room. 
He has a piano in there and a photograph of 
President Roosevelt; and right next door he 
has a private bath-room with a bath-tub in it. 
The bath-tub is chock-full of impedimenta of 
a much solider quality than water, but it is to 
be cleared out pretty soon, and every morning 
the Commander is going to have his cold- 
plunge, if there is enough hot water. 

There is a general rule that every member 
of the expedition, including the sailors, must 
take a bath at least once a week, and it is won- 
derful how contagious bathing is. Even the 
Esquimos catch it, and frequently Charley has 
to interrupt the upward development of some 
ambitious native, who has suddenly perceived 

38 



PREPARING FOR WINTER 

the need of ablutions, and has started to scrub 
himself in the water that is intended for cook- 
ing purposes. If the husky has not gone too 
far, the water is not wasted, and our stew is 
all the more savory. 

On board ship there was quite an extensive 
library, especially on Arctic and Antarctic 
topics, but as it was in the Commander's cabin 
it was not heavily patronized. In my own 
cabin I had Dickens' "Bleak House," Kip- 
ling's "Barrack Room Ballads," and the poems 
of Thomas Hood; also a copy of the Holy 
Bible, which had been given to me by a dear 
old lady in Brooklyn, N. Y. I also had 
Peary's books, "Northward Over the Great 
Ice," and his last v/ork "Nearest the Pole." 
During the long dreary midnights of the Arc- 
tic winter, I spent many a pleasant hour with 
my books. I also took along with me a 
calendar for the years 1908 and 1909, for in 
the regions of noonday darkness and midnight 
daylight, a calendar is absolutely necessary. 

But mostly I had rougher things than read- 
ing to do. 



39 



CHAPTER V 

MAKING PEAUY SLEDGES HUNTING IN THE 

ARCTIC NIGHT THE EXCITABLE DOGS 

AND THEIR HABITS 

T HAVE been busy making sledges, sledges 
-■^ of a different pattern from those used 
heretofore, and it is expected that they will 
answer better than the Esquimo type of open- 
work sledge, of the earlier expeditions. These 
sledges have been designed by Commander 
Peary and I have done the work. 

The runners are longer, and are curved up- 
wards at each end, so that they resemble the 
profile of a canoe, and are expected to rise over 
the inequalities of the ice much better than the 
old style. Lashed together with sealskin 
thongs, about twelve feet long, by two feet 
wide and seven inches high, the load can be 
spread along their entire length instead of 
being piled up, and a more even distribution 
of the weights is made. The Esquimos, used 

40 



DOGS AND HUNTING 

to their style of sledge, are of the opinion that 
the new style will prove too much for one man 
and an ordinary team to handle, but we have 
given both kinds a fair trial and it looks as 
if the new type has the old beaten by a good 
margin. 

The hunting is not going along as success- 
fully as is desired. The sun is sinking lower 
and lower, and the different hunting parties 
return with poor luck, bringing to the ship 
nothing in some cases, and in others only a few 
hares and some fish. 

The Commander has told me that it is im- 
perative that fresh meat be secured, and now 
that I have done all that it is positively neces- 
sary for me to do here at the ship, I am to take 
a couple of the Esquimo boys and try my luck 
for musk-oxen or reindeer, so to-morrow, early 
in the morning, it is off on the hunt. 

This from my diary: Eight days out and 
not a shot, not a sight of game, nothing. The 
night is coming quickly, the long months of 
darkness, of quiet and cold, that, in spite of 
my years of experience, I can never get used 
to; and up here at Sheridan it comes sooner 
and lasts longer than it does down at Etah 

41 



DOGS AND HUNTING 

and Bowdoin Bay. Only a few days' differ- 
ence, but it is longer, and I do not welcome 
it. Not a sound, except the report of a 
glacier, broken oiF by its weight, and causing 
a new iceberg to be born. The black dark- 
ness of the sky, the stars twinkling above, and 
hour after hour going by with no sunlight. 
Every now and then a moon when storms do 
not come, and always the cold, getting colder 
and colder, and me out on the hunt for fresh 
meat. I know it; the same old story, a man's 
work and a dog's life, and what does it amount 
to? What good is to be done? I am tired, 
sick, sore, and discouraged. 

The main thing was game, but I had a much 
livelier time with some members of the Peary 
Arctic Club's expedition known as "our four- 
footed friends" — the dogs. 

The dogs are ever interesting. They never 
bark, and often bite, but there is no danger 
from their bites. To get together a team that 
has not been tied down the night before is a 
job. You take a piece of meat, frozen as stiff 
as a piece of sheet-iron, in one hand, and the 
harness in the other, you single out the cur you 
are after, make proper advances, and when he 

42 



DOGS AND HUNTING 

comes sniffling and snuffling and all the time 
keeping at a safe distance, you drop the sheet- 
iron on the snow, the brute makes a dive, and 
you make a flop, you grab the nearest thing 
grabable — ear, leg, or bunch of hair — and do 
your best to catch his throat, after which, 
everything is easy. Slip the harness over the 
head, push the fore-paws through, and there 
you are, one dog hooked up and harnessed. 
After Hcking the bites and sucking the blood, 
you tie said dog to a rock and start for the 
next one. It is only a question of time before 
you have your team. When you have them, 
leave them alone ; they must now decide who is 
fit to be the king of the team, and so they fight, 
they fight and fight; and once they have de- 
cided, the king is king. A growl from him, 
or only a look, is enough, all obey, except the 
females, and the females have their way, for, 
true to type, the males never harm the females, 
and it is always the females who start the 
trouble. 

The dogs when not hitched to the sledges 
were kept together in teams and tied up, 
both at the ship and while we were hunting. 
They were not allowed to roam at large, for 

43 



DOGS AND HUNTING 

past experience with these customers had 
taught us that nothing in the way of food was 
safe from the attack of Esquimo dogs. I 
have seen tin boxes that had been chewed open 
by dogs in order to get at the contents, tin 
cans of condensed milk being gnawed like a 
bone, and skin clothing being chewed up like 
so much gravy. Dog fights were hourly oc- 
currences, and we lost a great many by the 
ravages of the mysterious Arctic disease, 
piblokto, which affects all dog life and fre- 
quently human Ufe. Indeed, it looked for a 
time as if we should lose the whole pack, so 
rapidly did they die, but constant care and at- 
tention permitted us to save most of them, and 
the fittest survived. 

Next to the Esquimos, the dogs are the most 
interesting subjects in the Arctic regions, and 
I could tell lots of tales to prove their intelli- 
gence and sagacity. These animals, more 
wolf than dog, have associated themselves with 
the human beings of this country as have their 
kin in more congenial places of the earth. 
Wide head, sharp nose, and pointed ears, 
thick wiry hair, and, in some of the males, a 
heavy mane; thick bushy tail, curved up over 

44 



DOGS AND HUNTING 

the back ; deep chest and fore legs wide apart ; 
a typical Esquimo dog is the picture of alert 
attention. They are as intelligent as any dog 
in civilization, and a thousand times more use- 
ful. They earn their own livings and disdain 
any of the comforts of life. Indeed it seems 
that when life is made pleasant for them they 
get sick, lie down and die; and when out on 
the march, with no food for days, thin, gaunt 
skeletons of their former selves, they will drag 
at the traces of the sledges and by their un- 
complaining conduct, inspire their human 
companions to keep on. 

Without the Esquimo dog, the story of the 
North Pole, would remain untold; for human 
ingenuity has not yet devised any other means 
to overcome the obstacles of cold, storm, and 
ice that nature has placed in the way than 
those that were utilized on this expedition. 



45 



CHAPTER VI 

THE PEARY PLAN ^A RAIN OF ROCKS MY 

FRIENDS THE ESQUIMOS 

T^HE story of the winter at Cape Sheridan 
'*' is a story unique in the experience of 
Arctic exploration. Usually it is the rule to 
hibernate as much as possible during the pe- 
riod of darkness, and the party is confined 
closely to headquarters. The Peary plan is 
different ; and constant activity and travel were 
insisted on. 

There were very few days when all of the 
members of the expedition were together, after 
the ship had reached her destination. Hunt- 
ing parties were immediately sent out, for it 
was on the big game of the country that the 
expedition depended for fresh meat. Profes- 
sor Marvin commenced his scientific work, and 
his several stations were all remote from head- 
quarters; and all winter long, parties were 
sledging provisions, equipment, etc., to Cape 

46 



THE PEARY PLAN 

Columbia, ninety- three miles northwest, in an- 
ticipation of the journey to the Pole. Those 
who remained at headquarters did not find life 
an idle dream. There was something in the 
way of work going on all of the time. I was 
away from the sliip on two hunting trips of 
about ten days each, and while at headquarters, 
I shaped and built over two dozen sledges, be- 
sides doing lots of other work. 

Naturally there were frequent storms and 
intense cold, and in regard to the storms of 
the Arctic regions of North Greenland and 
Grant Land, the only word I can use to de- 
scribe them is "terrible," in the fullest mean- 
ing it conveys. The effect of such storms of 
w^ind and snow, or rain, is abject physical ter- 
ror, due to the realization of perfect helpless- 
ness. I have seen rocks a hundred and a hun- 
dred and fifty pounds in weight picked up by 
the storm and blown for distances of ninety 
or a hundred feet to the edge of a precipice, 
and there of their own momentum go hurtling 
through space to fall in crashing fragments at 
the base. Imagine the effect of such a rain- 
fall of death-dealing bowlders on the f eehngs 
of a httle group of three or four, who have 

47 



THE ESQUIMOS 

sought the base of the cliff for shelter. I 
have been there and I have seen one of my 
Esquimo companions felled by a blow from 
a rock eighty-four pounds in weight, which 
struck him fairly between the shoulder-blades, 
literally knocking the life out of him. I have 
been there, and believe me, I have been afraid. 
A hundred-pound box of supplies, taking an 
aerial joy ride, during the progress of a storm 
down at Anniversary Lodge in 1894, struck 
Commander Peary a glancing blow which put 
him out of coromission for over a week. 
These mighty winds make it possible for the 
herbivorous animals of this region to exist. 
They sweep the snow from vast stretches of 
land, exposing the hay and dried dwarf -wil- 
lows, that the hare, musk-oxen, and reindeer 
feed on. 

The Esquimo families who came north to 
Cape Sheridan with us on the Roosevelt found 
life much more ideal than down in their native 
land. It was a pleasure trip for them, with 
nothing to worry about, and everything pro- 
vided. Some of the f am lies lived aboard ship 
all through the winter, and some in the box- 
house on shore. They were perforce much 

48 



THE ESQUIMOS 

cleaner in their personal habits than they were 
wont to be in their own home country, but 
never for an instant does the odor or appear- 
ance of an Esquimo's habitation suggest the 
rose or geranium. The aroma of an East Side 
lunch-room is more like it. 

There were thirty-nine Esquimos in the ex- 
pedition, men, women and children; for the 
Esquimo travels heavy and takes his women 
and children with him as a matter of course. 
The women were as useful as the men, and the 
small boys did the ship's chores, sledging in 
fresh water from the lake, etc. They were 
mostly in families; but there were several 
young, unmarried men, and the unattached, 
much-married and divorced Miss "Bill," who 
domiciled herself aboard the ship and did much 
good work with her needle. She was my seam- 
stress and the thick fur clothes worn on the 
trip to the Pole were sewn by her. The 
Esquimos lived as happily as in their own 
country and carried on their domestic affairs 
with almost the same care-free irregularity as 
usual. The best-natured people on earth, with 
no bad habits of their own, but a ready 
ability to assimilate the vices of civilization. 

49 



THE ESQUIMOS 

Twenty years ago, when I first met them, not 
one used tobacco or craved it. To-day every 
member of the tribe has had experience with 
tobacco, craves it, and will give most every- 
thing, except his gun, to get it. Even little 
toddlers, three and four years old, will eat to- 
bacco and, strange to say, it has no bad effect. 
They get tobacco from the Danish missionaries 
and from the sailors on board the whaUng, 
seal, and walrus-ships. Whisky has not yet 
gotten in its demoralizing work. 

It is my conviction that the life of this little 
tribe is doomed, and that extinction is nearly 
due. It will be caused partly by themselves, 
and partly by the misguided endeavors of 
civilized people. Every year their number 
diminishes; in 1894, Hugh J. Lee took the 
census of the tribe, and it numbered two hun- 
dred and fifty-three; in 1906, Professor Mar- 
vin found them to have dwindled to two hun- 
dred and seven. At this writing I dare say 
their number is still further reduced, for the 
latest news I have had from the Whale Sound 
region informs me that quite a number of 
deaths have occurred, and the birth-rate is not 
high. It is sad to think of the fate of my 

50 



THE ESQUIMOS 

friends who live in what was once a land of 
plenty, but which is, through the greed of the 
commercial hunter, becoming a land of frigid 
desolation. The seals are practically gone, 
and the walrus are being quickly exterminated. 
The reindeer and the musk-oxen are going the 
same way, for the Esquimos themselves now 
hunt inland, when, up to twenty years ago, 
their hunting was confined to the coast and the 
life-giving sea. 

They are very human in their attributes, 
and in spite of the fact that their diet is prac- 
tically meat only, their tempers are gentle and 
mild, and there is a great deal of affection 
among them. Except between husband and 
wife, they seldom quarrel; and never hold 
spite or animosity. Children are a valuable 
asset, are much loved, never scolded or pun- 
ished, and are not spoiled. An Esquimo 
mother washes her baby the same way a cat 
washes her kittens. There are lots of personal 
habits the description of which might scatter 
the reading circle, so I will desist with the bald 
statement, that, for them, dirt and filth have no 
terrors. 



51 



CHAPTER VII 

SLEDGING TO CAPE COLUMBIA — HOT SOLDERING 
IN COLD WEATHER 

I F you will get out your geography and turn 
^ to the map of the Western Hemisphere you 
will be able to follow me. Take the seven- 
tieth meridian, west. It is the major meridian 
of the Western Hemisphere, its northern land 
extremity being Cape Columbia, Grant Land; 
southward it crosses our own Cape Cod and 
the island of Santo Domingo, and runs down 
through the Andes to Cape Horn, the south- 
ern extremity of South America. 

The seventieth meridian was our pathway to 
the Pole, based on the west longitude of 70°. 
Both Professor Marvin and Captain Bartlett 
took their observations at their respective 
f arthests, and at the Pole, where all meridians 
meet, Commander Peary took his elevations of 
the sun, based on the local time of the Colum- 
bian meridian. 

52 



SLEDGING 

Cape Columbia was discovered over fifty 
years ago, by the intrepid Captain Hall, who 
gave his life to Arctic exploration, and lies 
buried on the Greenland coast. From the 
time of the arrival of the Roosevelt at Cape 
Sheridan, the previous September, communi- 
cations with Cape Columbia were opened up, 
the trail was made and kept open all through 
the winter by constant travel between the ship 
and the cape. Loads of supplies, in anticipa- 
tion of the start for the Pole, were sledged 
there. 

The route to Cape Columbia is through a 
region of somber magnificence. Huge bee- 
tling cliffs overlook the pathway; dark savage 
headlands, around which we had to travel, pro- 
ject out into the ice-covered waters of the 
ocean, and vast stretches of wind-swept plains 
meet the eye in alternate changes. From Cape 
Sheridan to Cape Columbia is a distance of 
ninety-three miles. In ordinary weather, it 
took about three and a half marches, although 
on the return from the Pole it was covered in 
two marches, men and dogs breezing in. 

On February 18, 1909, I left the Roosevelt 
on what might be a returnless journey. The 

53 



SLEDGING 

time to strike had come. Captain Bartlett 
and Dr. Goodsell had already started. The 
Commander gave me strict orders to the effect 
that I must get to Porter Bay, pick up the 
cache of alcohol left there late in the previ- 
ous week, solder up the leaks, and take it to 
Cape Columbia, there to await his arrival. The 
cause of the alcohol-leakage was due to the 
jolting of the sledges over the rough ice, punc- 
turing the thin tin of the alcohol-cases. 

I wish you could have seen me soldering 
those tins, under the conditions of darkness, 
intense cold, and insufficient furnace arrange- 
ment I had to endure. If there ever was a 
job for a demon in Hades, that was it. I 
vividly recall it. At the same instant I was 
in imminent danger of freezing to death and 
being burned alive ; and the mental picture of 
those three fur-clad men, huddled around the 
little oil-stove' heating the soldering-iron, and 
the hot solder dripping on the tin, is amusing 
now; but we were anything but amused 
then. The following is transcribed from my 
diary : 

February 18, 1909: Weather clear, tem- 
perature 28° at five a. m. We were ready to 

54 



SLEDGING 

leave the ship at seven-thirty a. m., but a blind- 
ing gale delayed our start until nine a. m. 
Two parties have left for Columbia : Professor 
MacMillan, three boys, four sledges, and 
twenty-four dogs ; and my party of three boys 
and the same outfit. Each sledge is loaded 
with about two hundred and fifty pounds of 
provisions, consisting of pemmican, biscuits, 
tea, and alcohol. The Arctic night still holds 
sway, but to-day at noon, far to the south, a 
thin band of twihght shows, giving promise 
of the return of the sun, and every day now 
will increase in light. Heavy going to Por- 
ter Bay, where we are to spend the night, and 
as soon as rested start to work soldering up 
the thirty-six leaky alcohol tins left there by 
George Borup last week. Professor MacMil- 
lan and his party have not shown up yet. They 
dropped behind at Cape Bichardson and we 
are keeping a watch for them. Snow still 
drifting and the wind howling hke old times. 
Have had our evening meal of travel-rations; 
pemmican, biscuits, and tea and condensed 
milk, which was eaten with a relish. Two 
meals a day now, and big work between meals. 
No sign of Professor MacMillan and his crew, 

55 



SLEDGING 

so we are going to turn in. The other igloo is 
waiting for him and the storm keeps up. 

February 19, 1909: It was six a. m. when 
I routed out the boys for breakfast. I am 
writing while the tea is brewing. Had a 
good sleep last night when I did get to sleep. 
Snoring, talk about snoring! Sleeping with 
Esquimos on either side, who have already 
fallen asleep, is impossible. The only way to 
get asleep is to wake them up, get them good 
and wide-awake, inquire solicitously as to their 
comfort, and before they can get to sleep fall 
asleep yourself. After that, their rhythmic 
snores will only tend to soothe and rest you. 

Worked all day soldering the tins of alcohol, 
and a very trying job it was. I converted the 
oil-stove into an alcohol-burner, and used it 
to heat the irons. It took some time for me 
to gauge properly the height above the blue 
flame of the alcohol at which I would get the 
best results in heating the irons, but at last we 
found it. A cradle-shaped support made 
from biscuit-can wire was hung over the flame 
about an inch above it, and while the boys 
heated the irons, I squatted on my knees with 
a case of alcohol across my lap and got to work. 

56 



SLEDGING 

I had watched Mr. Wardwell aboard the ship 
solder up the cases and I found that watching 
a man work, and doing the same thing your- 
self, were two different matters. I tried to 
work with mittens on; I tried to work with 
them off. As soon as my bare fingers would 
touch the cold metal of the tins, they would 
freeze, and if I attempted to use the mittens 
they would singe and burn, and it was impos- 
sible to hold the solder with my bearskin 
gloves on. But keeping everlastingly at 
it brings success, and with the help of the boys 
the work was slowly but surely done. 

Early this evening Professor MacMillan and 
his caravan arrived. He complimented me on 
the success of my work and informed me that 
they camped at Cape Richardson last night and 
that the trail had been pretty well blown over 
by the storm, but that the sledge-tracks were 
still to be seen. Dead tired, but not cold or 
uncomfortable. The stew is ready and so am 
I. Good night! 

February 20: Wind died down, sky clear, 
and weather cold as usual. Our next point is 
Sail Harbor and after breakfast we set out. 
The Professor has asked me the most advisable 

57 



SLEDGING 

way ; whether to keep to the sea-ice or go over- 
land, and we have agreed to follow the north- 
ern route, overland across Fielden Peninsula, 
using Peary's Path. By this route we esti- 
mate a saving of eight miles of going, and we 
will hit the beach at James Ross Bay. 

Five p. M. : Sail Harbor. Stopped writ- 
ing to eat breakfast, and then we loaded up 
and started. Reached here about an hour ago 
and from the fresh tracks in the snow, the 
Captain's or the Doctor's party have just re- 
cently left. It was evidently Doctor Goodsell 
and his crew who were here last; for Captain 
Bartlett left the Roosevelt on February 15 and 
the Doctor did not leave until the 16th. The 
going has been heavy, due to loose snow and 
heavy winds. Also intense cold; the ther- 
mometers are all out of commission, due to 
bubbles; but a frozen bottle of brandy proves 
that we had at least 45° of cold. The igloo 
I built last December 5 is the one my party 
are camped in. Professor MacMillan and his 
party kept up with us all day, and it was 
pleasant to have his society. Writing is diffi- 
cult, the kettle is boiled, so here ends to-day's 
entry. 

58 



SLEDGING 

February 21: Easy wind, clear sky, but 
awful cold. Going across Clements Mark- 
ham Inlet was fine, and we were able to steal 
a ride on the sledges most of the way, but we 
all had our faces frosted, and my short flat 
nose, which does not readily succumb to the 
cold, suffered as much as did MacMillan's. 
Even these men of iron, the Esquimos, suf- 
fered from the cold, Ootah freezing the great 
toe of his right foot. Perforce, he was com- 
pelled to thaw it out in the usual way; that 
is, taking off his kamik and placing his freez- 
ing foot under my bearskin shirt, the heat of 
my body thawing out the frozen member. 

Cape Colan was reached about half past 
nine this morning. There we reloaded, and I 
fear overloaded, the sledges, from the cache 
which has been placed there. Our loads 
average about 550 pounds per sledge and we 
have left a lot of provisions behind. 

We are at Cape Good Point, having been 
unable to make Cape Columbia, and have had 
to build an igloo. With our overloaded 
sledges this has been a hard day's work. The 
dogs pulled, and we pushed, and frequently 
lifted the heavily loaded sledges through the 

59 



SLEDGING 

deep, soft snow; but we did not dump any 
of our loads. Although the boys wanted to, 
I would not stand for it. The bad example 
of seeing some piles of provision-cases which 
had been unloaded by the preceding parties 
was what put the idea in their heads. 

We will make Cape Columbia to-morrow and 
will have to do no back-tracking. We are 
moving forward. I have started for a place, 
and do not intend to run back to get a better 
start. 

February 22, 1909: Cape Columbia. We 
left Cape Good Point at seven a. m. and 
reached Cape Columbia at eight p. m. No 
wind, but weather thick and hazy, and the same 
old cold. About two miles from Good Point, 
we passed the Doctor's igloo. About a mile 
beyond this, we passed the "Crystal Palace" 
that had been occupied by the Captain. Six 
miles farther north, we passed a second igloo, 
which had been built by the Doctor's party. 
How did we know who had built and occupied 
these igloos? It was easy, as an Esquimo 
knows and recognizes another Esquimo's hand- 
work, the same as you recognize the handwrit- 
ing of your friends. I noted the neat, or- 

60 



SLEDGING 

derly, shipshape condition of the Captain's 
igloo, and the empty cocoa-tins scattered 
around the Doctor's igloo. The Doctor was 
the only one who had cocoa as an article of 
supply. 

Following the trail four miles farther north, 
we passed the Captain's second igloo. He 
had unloaded his three sledges here and gone 
on to Parr Bay to hunt musk-oxen. We 
caught up with the Doctor and his party at 
the end of the ice-foot and pushed on to Cape 
Columbia. We found but one igloo here and 
I did the "after you my dear Alphonse," and 
the Doctor got the igloo. My boys and I 
have built a good big one in less than an hour, 
and we are now snug and warm. 



61 



CHAPTER VIII 

IN CAMP AT COLUMBIA — ^LITERARY IGLOOS 

THE MAGNIFICENT DESOLATION OF 
THE ARCTIC 

OUR heavy furs had been made by the 
Esquimo women on board the ship and 
had been thoroughly aired and carefully 
packed on the sledges. We were to discard 
our old clothes before leaving the land and 
endeavor to be in the cleanest condition pos- 
sible while contending with the ice, for we 
knew that we would get dirty enough without 
having the discomfort of vermin added. It 
is easy to become vermin-infested, and when 
all forms of life but man and dog seem to 
have disappeared, the bedbug still remains. 
Each person had taken a good hot bath with 
plenty of soap and water before we left the 
ship, and we had given each other what we 
called a "prize-fighter's hair-cut." We ran 
the clippers from forehead back, all over the 

62 



CAMP AT COLUMBIA 

head, and we looked like a precious bunch but 
we had hair enough on our heads by the time 
we came back from our three months' journey, 
and we needed a few more baths and new 
clothes. 

When I met Dr. Goodsell at Cape Colum- 
bia, about a week after he had left the ship, 
he had already raised quite a beard, and, as 
his hair was black and heavy, it made quite a 
change in his appearance. The effect of the 
long period of darkness had been to give his 
complexion a greenish-yellow tinge. My com- 
plexion reminded him of a ginger cake with 
too much saleratus in it. 

February 23: Heavy snow-fall but prac- 
tically no wind this morning at seven o'clock, 
when Dr. Goodsell left his igloo for Cape 
Colan to pick up the load he had left there 
when he lightened his sledges, also some loads 
of pemmican and biscuits that had been cached. 
We had supper together and also breakfast this 
morning, and as we ate we laughed and talked, 
and I taught him a few tricks for keeping him- 
self warm. 

In spite of the snow, which was still falling, 
I routed out my boys, and in the dark we left 

63 



CAMP AT COLUMBIA 

camp for the western side of the cape, to get 
the four sledge-loads of rations that had been 
taken there the previous November. Got the 
loads and pushed south to Cape Aldrich, which 
is a point on the promontory of Cape Colum- 
bia. From Cape Aldrich the Commander 
intends to attack the sea-ice. 

After unloading the supplies on the point, 
we came back to camp at Cape Columbia. 
Shortly afterwards Captain Bartlett came into 
camp from his musk-ox-hunt around Parr 
Bay. He had not shot a thing and was very 
tired and discouraged, but I think he was glad 
to see me. He was so hungry that I gave 
him all the stew, which he swallowed whole. 

MacMillan and his party showed up about 
an hour after the Captain, and very shortly 
after George Boiiip came driving in, like 
"Ann Eliza Johnson, a swingin' down the 
line." I helped Mr, Borup build his igloo, for 
wliich he was grateful. He is a plucky young 
fellow and is always cheerful. He told us 
that Professor Marvin, according to the sched- 
ule, had left the ship on the 20th, and the Com- 
mander on the 21st, so they must be well on 
the way. 

64 



CAMP AT COLUMBIA 

While waiting in this camp for the Com- 
mander and Professor Marvin to arrive, we had 
plenty of work; re-adjusting the sledge-loads 
and also building snow-houses and banking 
them with blocks of snow, for the wind had 
eroded one end of my igloo and completely 
razed it to the level of the ground, and a more 
solidly constructed igloo was necessary to 
withstand the fury of the gale. 

We kept a fire going in one igloo and dried 
our mittens and kamiks. Though the tumpa, 
tumpa, plunk of the banjo was not heard, and 
our camp-fires were not scenes of revelry and 
joy, I frequently did the double-shuffle and 
an Old Virginia break-down, to keep my blood 
circulating. 

The hours preceding our advance from Cape 
Columbia were pleasantly spent, though we 
lost no time in literary debates. There were 
a few books along. 

Out on the ice of the Polar ocean, as far as 
reading matter went, I think Dr. Goodsell 
had a very small set of Shakespeare, and I 
know that I had a Holy Bible. The others 
who went out on the ice may have had reading 
matter with them, but they did not read it out 

65 



CAMP AT COLUMBIA 

loud, and so I am not in a position to say what 
their hterary tastes were. 

Even on shipboard, we had no pigskin 
hbrary or five-foot shelf of sleep-producers, 
but each member had some favorite books in 
his cabin, and they helped to form a circulating 
library. 

While we waited here, we had time to ap- 
preciate the magnificent desolation about us. 
Even on the march, with loaded sledges and 
tugging dogs to engage attention, uncon- 
sciously one finds oneself with wits wool- 
gathering and eyes taking in the scene, and 
suddenly being brought back to the business of 
the hour by the fiend-like conduct of his team. 

There is an irresistible fascination about the 
regions of northernmost Grant Land that is 
impossible for me to describe. Having no 
poetry in my soul, and being somewhat hard- 
ened by years of experience in that inhos- 
pitable country, words proper to give you an 
idea of its unique beauty do not come to mind. 
Imagine gorgeous bleakness, beautiful blank- 
ness. It never seems broad, bright day, even 
in the middle of June, and the sky has the 

66 



CAMP AT COLUMBIA 

different effects of the varying hours of morn- 
ing and evening twihght from the first to the 
last peep of day. Early in February, at noon, 
a thin band of light appears far to the south- 
ward, heralding the approach of the sun, and 
daily the twilight lengthens, until early in 
March, the sun, a flaming disk of fiery crim- 
son, shows his distorted image above the 
horizon. This distorted shape is due to the 
mirage caused by the cold, just as heat-waves 
above the rails on a railroad-track distort the 
shape of objects beyond. 

The south sides of the lofty peaks have for 
days reflected the glory of the coming sun, 
and it does not require an artist to enjoy the 
unexampled splendor of the view. The snows 
covering the peaks show all of the colors, 
variations, and tones of the artist's palette, and 
more. Artists have gone with us into the 
Arctic and I have heard them rave over the 
wonderful beauties of the scene, and I have 
seen them at work trying to reproduce some 
of it, with good results but with nothing like 
the effect of the original. As Mr. Stokes said, 
"it is color run riot." 

To the northward, all is dark and the 

67 



CAMP AT COLUMBIA 

brighter stars of the heavens are still visible, 
but growing fainter daily with the strengthen- 
ing of the sunlight. 

When the sun finally gets above the horizon 
and swings his daily circle, the color effects 
grow less and less, but then the sky and cloud- 
effects improve and the shadows in the moun- 
tains and clefts of the ice show forth their 
beauty, cold blues and grays; the bare patches 
of the land, rich browns ; and the whiteness of 
the snow is dazzling. At midday, the optical 
impression given by one's shadow is of about 
nine o'clock in the morning, this due to the 
altitude of the sun, always giving us long 
shadows. Above us the sky is blue and bright, 
bluer than the sky of the Mediterranean, and 
the clouds from the silky cirrus mare's-tails 
to the fantastic and heavy cumulus are always 
objects of beauty. This is the description of 
fine weather. 

Almost any spot would have been a fine one 
to get a round of views from ; at Cape Sheri- 
dan, our headquarters, we were bounded by a 
series of land marks that have become his- 
torical; to the north, Cape Hecla, the point 
of departure of the 1906 expedition; to the 

68 



CAMP AT COLUMBIA 

west, Cape Joseph Henry, and beyond, the 
twin peaks of Cape Columbia rear their giant 
summits out to the ocean. 

From Cape Columbia the expedition was 
now to leave the land and sledge over the ice- 
covered ocean four hundred and thirteen miles 
north — ^to the Pole! 



69 



CHAPTER IX 

READY FOR THE DASH TO THE POLE THE COM- 
MANDER'S ARRIVAL 

T^HE Diary — February 23: Heavy snow- 
"*• fall and furious winds; accordingly in- 
tense darkness and much discomfort. 

There was a heavy gale blowing at seven 
o'clock in the morning, on February 22, and 
the snow was so thick and drif ty that we kept 
close to our igloos and made no attempt to 
do more than feed the dogs. My igloo was 
completely covered with snow and the one oc- 
cupied by Dr. Goodsell was blown away, so 
that he had to have another one, which I helped 
to build. 

The wind subsided considerably, leaving a 
thick haze, but after breakfast, Professor Mac- 
Millan, Mr. Borup, and their parties, left 
camp for Cape Colan, to get the supplies they 
had dumped there, and carry them to Cape 
Aldrich. I took one Esquimo, Pooadloonah, 

70 



ALL READY 

and one sledge from the Captain's party, and 
with my own three boys, Ooblooyah, Ootah, 
and I-forget-his-name, and a howling mob of 
dogs, we left for the western side of Cape 
Columbia, and got the rest of the pemmican 
and biscuits. On the way back, we met the 
Captain, who was out taking exercise. He 
had nothing to say; he did not shake hands, 
but there was something in his manner to show 
that he was glad to see us. With the coming 
of the daylight a man gets more cheerful, but 
it was still twilight when we left Cape Colum- 
bia, and melancholy would sometimes grip, as 
it often did during the darkness of midwinter. 

Captain Bartlett helped us to push the 
loaded sledges to Cape Aldrich and nothing 
was left at Cape Columbia. 

When we got back to camp we found Pro- 
fessor Marvin and his party of three Esquimos 
there. They had just reached the camp and 
were at work building an igloo. 

Professor Marvin came over to our igloo and 
changed his clothes; that is, in a temperature 
of at least 45° below zero, by the light of my 
lantern he coolly and calmly stripped to the 
pelt, and proceeded to cloth himself in the new 

71 



ALL READY 

suit of reindeerskin and polar bearskin cloth- 
ing, that had been made for him by the Es- 
quimo woman, Ahlikahsingwah, aboard the 
Roosevelt, It had taken him and his party 
five days to make the trip from Sheridan to 
Colmnbia. 

February 26: This from my log: '* Clear, 
no wind, temperature 57° below zero." Lis- 
ten ! I will tell you about it. At seven a. m. 
we quit trying to sleep and started the pot 
a-boihng. A pint of hot tea gave us a dif- 
ferent point of view, and Professor Marvin 
handed me the thermometer, which I took out- 
side and got the reading; 57° below; that is 
cold enough. I have seen it lower, but after 
forty below the difference is not appreciable. 

I climbed to the highest pinnacle of the cape 
and in the gathering daylight gazed out over 
the ice-covered ocean to get an idea of its con- 
dition. At my back lay the land of sadness, 
just below me the little village of snow-houses, 
the northern-most city on the earth (Com- 
mander Peary give it the name Crane City), 
and, stretching wide and far to the northward, 
the irresistible influence that beckoned us on; 
broken ice, a sinister chaos, through which we 

72 



ALL READY 

would have to work our way. Dark and 
heavy clouds along the horizon gave indica- 
tion of open water, and it was easy to see that 
the rough and heavy shore-ice would make no 
jokes for us to appreciate. 

About an hour or so after the midday meal, 
a loud outcry from the dogs made me go out- 
side to see what was up. This was on the 
afternoon of February 26. I quickly saw 
what the dogs were excited about. 

With a "Whoop halloo," three Komaticks 
were racing and tearing down the gradient of 
the land to our camp, and all of us were out 
to see the finish. Kudlooktoo and Arkeo an 
even distance apart; and, heads up, tails up, 
a full five sledge-lengths ahead, with snowdust 
spinning free, the dog-team of the ever vic- 
torious Peary in the lead. The caravan came 
to a halt with a grandstand finish that it would 
have done you good to witness. 

The Commander didn't want to stop. He 
immediately commenced to shout and issue or- 
ders, and, by the time he had calmed down, 
both Captain Bartlett and George Borup had 
loaded up and pushed forward on to the ice 
of the Arctic Ocean, bound for the trophy of 

73 



ALL READY 

over four hundred years of effort. The 
Peary discipline is the iron hand ungloved. 
From now on we must be indifferent to com- 
fort, and like poor little Joe, in "Bleak House" 
we must always be moving on. 



74 



CHAPTER X 

forwaed! march! 

/^OMMANDER PEARY was an officer 
^-^ of the United States Navy, but there 
never was the slightest mihtary aspect to any 
of his expeditions. No banners flying, no 
trumpets blaring, and no sharp, incisive com- 
mands. Long ago, crossing the ice-cap of 
North Greenland, he carried a wand of bam- 
boo, on one end of which was attached a little 
silk guidon, with a star embroidered on it, but 
even that had been discarded and the only 
thing military about this expedition was 
his peremptory "Forward! March!" What 
flags we had were folded and stowed on Com- 
mander Peary's sledge, and broken-out only at 
the North Pole. 

Captain Bartlett and Mr. George Borup 
were all alert and at attention, the command 
of preparation and the command of execution 
were quickly given in rapid succession, and 
they were off. 

75 



FORWARD ! MARCH ! 

From the diary. 

February 28, 1909: A bright, clear morn- 
ing. Captain Bartlett and his crew, Ooqueah, 
Pooadloonah, and Harrigan; and George 
Borup and Karko, Seegloo, and Keshungwah, 
have set sail and are on their wav. 

Captain Bartlett made the trail and George 
Borup was the scout, and a rare *'01d Scout" 
he was. He kept up the going for three days 
and then came back to the land to start again 
with new loads of supplies. 

The party that stayed at Crane City until 
March 1, consisted of Commander Peary, Mac- 
Millan, Goodsell, Marvin, myself, and four- 
teen Equimos, whom you don't know, and 
ninety-eight dogs, that you may have heard 
about. 

The dogs were double-fed and we put a 
good meal inside ourselves before turning-in on 
the night of February 28, 1909. The next 
morning was to be our launching, and we went 
to sleep full of the thought of what was be- 
fore us. From now on it was keep on going, 
and keep on — and we kept on; sometimes in 
the face of storms of wind and snow that it is 
impossible for you to imagine. 

76 




ROBERT E. PEARY IN HIS NORTH POLE FURS 



FORWARD ! MARCH ! 

Day does not break in the Arctic regions, it 
just comes on quietly the same as down here, 
but I must say that at daybreak on March 1, 
1909, we were all excitement and attention. 
A furious wind was blowing, which we took as 
a good omen; for, on all of Commander 
Peary's travelings, a good big, heavy, storm 
of blinding snow has been his stirrup-cup and 
here he had his last. Systematically we had 
completed our preparations on the two days 
previous, so that, by six a. m. of the 1st of 
March, we were ready and standing at the up- 
standers of our sledges, awaiting the conmiand 
"Forward! March!" 

Already, difficulties had commenced. Oob- 
looyah and Slocum (Esquimo name, Inighito, 
but, on account of his dilatory habits, known 
as Slocum) were incapacitated; Ooblooyah 
with a swelled knee, and Slocum with a frozen 
heel. The cold gets you in most any place, 
up there. 

I and my three boys were ordered to take 
the lead. We did so, at about half past six 
o'clock in the morning. Forward! March! 
and we were off. 



77 



CHAPTER XI 

FIGHTING UP THE POLAR SEA — HELD UP BY 
THE "big lead" 

COLLOWING the trail made by Captain 
•■■ Bartlett, we pushed off, every man at the 
upstander of his sledge to urge his team by 
whip and voice. It was only when we had per- 
fect going over sheets of young ice that we 
were able to steal a ride on the sledges. 

The trail led us over the glacial fringe for 
a quarter of a mile, and the going was fairly 
easy, but, after leaving the land ice-foot, the 
trail plunged into ice so rough that we had to 
use pickaxes to make a pathway. It took only 
about one mile of such going, and my sledge 
spHt. 

"Number one," said I to myself, and I came 
to a halt. The gale was still blowing, but I 
started to work on the necessary repairs. I 
have practically built one sledge out of two 
broken ones, while out on the ice and in weather 

78 



THE POLAR SEA 

almost as bad as this ; and I have aknost daily 
during the journey had to repair broken 
sledges, sometimes under fiercer conditions; 
and so I will describe this one job and here- 
after, when writing about repairing a sledge, 
let it go at that. 

Cold and windy. Undo the lashings, un- 
load the load, get out the brace and bit and 
bore new holes, taking plenty of time, for, in 
such cold, there is danger of the steel bit 
breaking. Then, with ungloved hands, thread 
the sealskin thongs through the hole. The 
fingers freeze. Stop work, pull the hand 
through the sleeve, and take your icy fingers 
to your heart; that is, put your hand under 
your armpit, and when you feel it burning you 
know it has thawed out. Then start to work 
again. By this time the party has advanced 
beyond you and, as orders are orders, and you 
have been ordered to take the lead, you have 
to start, catch up, and pass the column before 
you have reached your station. 

Of course, in catching up and overtaking 
the party, you have the advantage of the well- 
marked trail they have made. Once again in 
the lead; and my boy, Ootah, had to up and 

79 



THE POLAR SEA 

break his sledge, and there was some more tall 
talking" when the Commander caught up with 
us and left us there mending it. A little far- 
ther on, and the amiable Kudlooktoo, who was 
in my party at the time, busted his sledge. 
You would have thought that Kudlooktoo was 
the last person in Commander Peary's estima- 
tion, when he got through talking to him and 
telling him what he thought of him. The 
sledge was so badly broken it had to be aban- 
doned. The load was left on the spot where 
the accident happened, and Kudlooktoo, much 
chastened and crestfallen, drove his team of 
dogs back to the land for a new sledge. 

We did not wait for him, but kept on for 
about two hours longer, when we reached the 
Captain's first igloo, twelve miles out ; a small 
day's traveling, but we were almost dead-beat, 
from having battled all day with the wind, 
which had blown a full-sized gale. 'No other 
but a Peary party would have attempted to 
travel in such weather. Our breath was frozen 
to our hoods of fur and our cheeks and noses 
frozen. Spreading our furs upon the snow, 
we dropped down and endeavored to sleep, but 
sound sleep was impossible. It was a night 

80 



THE POLAR SEA 

of Plutonian Purgatory. All through the 
night I would wake from the cold and beat 
my arms or feet to keep the circulation going, 
and I would hear one or both of my boys do- 
ing the same. I did not make any entries in 
the diary that day, and there was many a day 
like it after that. 

It was cold and dark when we left camp 
number one on the morning of March 2, at 
half past six o'clock. Breakfast had warmed 
us up a bit, but the hard pemmican had torn 
and cut the roofs and sides of our mouths so 
that we did not eat a full meal, and we decided 
that at our next camp we would boil the pem- 
mican in the tea and have a combination stew. 
I will say now that this experiment was tried, 
but it made such an unwholesome mess that it 
was never repeated. 

The Captain's and Borup's trail was still 
evident, in spite of the low drifts of the snow, 
but progress was slow. We were still in the 
heavy rubble-ice and had to continuously hew 
our way with pickaxes to make a path for the 
sledges. While we were at work making a 
pathway, the dogs would curl up and lie down 
with their noses in their tails, and w^e would 

81 



m 



THE POLAR SEA 

have to come back and start them, which was 
always the signal for a fight or two. We 
worked through the belt of rubble-ice at last, 
and came up with the heavy old floes and 
rafters of ice-blocks, larger than very large 
flag-stones and fully as thick as they were long 
and wide; the fissures between them full of 
the drifted snow. Even with our broad 
snow-shoes on, we sank knee-deep, and the 
dogs were in up to their breasts, the sledges up 
to the floors and frequently turning over, so 
it was a long time before we had covered seven 
miles, to be stopped by open water. I took 
no chances on this lead, although afterwards 
I did not hesitate at more desperate looking 
leads than this was. Instead of ferrying 
across on a block of ice, I left one of my boys 
to attend the dogs and sledges, and with 
Ootah I started to reconnoiter. We found 
that there were two leads, and the safest way 
to cross the first was to go west to a point 
where the young ice was strong enough to bear 
the weight of the sledges. We got across and 
had not gone very far before the other lead, 
in spite of a detour to the east, efl*ectually 
blocked us. Starting back to the sledges, 

82 



THE POLAR SEA 

Ootah said he was ''damn feel good'' and in 
Esquimo gave me to understand that he was 
going back to the ship. I tried to tell him 
different, as we walked back; and when we 
reached camp we found the Commander and 
his party, who had just come in; and the Com- 
mander gave Ootah to distinctly understand 
that he was not going back just yet. Orders 
were given to camp, and while the igloos were 
being built, Marvin and MacMillan took 
soundings. There had been more daylight 
than on the day before, and the gale had sub- 
sided considerably, but it was dark when we 
turned in to have our evening meal and sleep. 
March 3 : Right after breakfast, my party 
immediately started, taking the trail I had 
found the day previous. Examining the ice, 
we went to the westward, until we came to the 
almost solid new ice, and we took a chance. 
The ice commenced to rafter under us, but we 
got across safely with our loads, and started 
east again, for two miles ; when we found our- 
selves on an island of ice completely sur- 
rounded by the heavy raftered ice. Here we 
halted and mended sledges and in the course 
of an hour the whole party had caught up. 

83 



THE POLAR SEA 

The ice had begun to rafter and the shattering 
reports made a noise that was ahnost ear-split- 
ting, but we pushed and pulled and managed 
to get out of the danger-zone, and kept going 
northwestward, in the hope of picking up the 
trail of the Captain and Borup, which we did 
after a mile of going. Close examination of 
the trail showed us that Borup and his party 
had retraced their steps and gone quite a dis- 
tance west in order to cross the lead. It was 
on this march that we were to have met Borup 
and his party returning, so Marvin and his 
boy Kyutah were sent to look them up. The 
rest of the party kept on in the newly found 
trail and came to the igloo and cache that had 
been left there by Borup. The Commander 
went into the igloo, and we made the dogs fast 
and built our own igloos, made our tea and 
went to sleep. 

March 4: Heavy snow fall; but Comman- 
der Peary routed out all hands, and by seven 
o'clock we were following the Captain's trail. 
Very rough going, and progress slow up to 
about nine o'clock, when conditions changed. 
We reached heavy, old floes of waving blue 
ice, the best traveling on sea ice I had ever 

84 



THE BIG LEAD 

encountered in eighteen years' experience. 
We went so fast that we more than made up 
for lost time and at two o'clock, myself in the 
lead, we reached the igloo built by Captain 
Bartlett. It had been arranged that I should 
stop for one sleep at every igloo built by the 
Captain, and that he should leave a note in 
his igloo for my instructions; but, in spite of 
these previous arrangements, I felt that with 
such good traveling it would be just as wise 
to keep on going, and so we did, but it was 
only about half or three-quarters of an hour 
later when we were stopped by a lead, beside 
which the Captain had camped. With Ootah 
and Tommy to help, we built an igloo and 
crawled inside. Two hours later, the Com- 
mander and his party arrived, and we crawled 
out and turned the igloo over to him. 
Tommy, Ootah, and I then built another 
igloo, crawled inside, and blocked the doorway 
up with a slab of snow, determined not to turn 
out again until we had had a good feed and 
snooze. 

From my diary, the first entry since leav- 
ing the land ; with a couple of comments added 
afterward : 

85 



THE BIG LEAD 

March 5: A clear bright morning, 20° 
below zero; quite comfortable. Reached here 
yesterday at two-forty-five p. m., after some 
of the finest going I have ever seen. Com- 
mander Peary, Captain Bartlett, and Dr. 
Goodsell here, and fourteen Esquimos. First 
view of the sun to-day, for a few minutes at 
noon, makes us all cheerful. It was a crimson 
sphere, just balanced on the brink of the 
world. Had the weather been favorable, we 
could have seen the sun several days earlier. 
Every day following he will get higher and 
higher, until he finally swings around the sky 
above the horizon for the full twenty-four 
hours. 

Early in the morning of the 5th, Peary sent 
a detachment of three Esquimos, in charge 
of MacMillan, back to bring in Borup's cache, 
left by him at the point where he turned back 
to return to the land for more loads. This 
detachment was back in camp by four o'clock 
in the afternoon of the same day. Nothing 
left to do but to rearrange the loads and wait 
for the lead to close. 

The land is still in sight. Professor Marvin 
has gone back with two boys and is expected 

86 



THE BIG LEAD 

to keep on to the alcohol cache at Cape Colum- 
bia, turn back and meet us here, or, if the ice 
freezes, to follow us until he catches up with 
us. We are husbanding our fuel, and two 
meals a day is our programme. We are still 
south of the Big Lead of 1906, but to all in- 
tents and purposes this is it. I am able to 
recognize many of the characteristics of it, and 
I feel sure it is the same old lead that gave us 
many an anxious hour in our upward and 
downward journey three years ago. 

Fine weather, but we are still south of the 
84th parallel and this open water marks it. 
8° below zero and all comfortable. We 
should be doing twenty or twenty-five miles 
a day good traveling, but we are halted by this 
open water. 

March 7: Professor MacMillan came into 
camp to-day with the cache he had picked up. 
There was quite a hullabaloo among the boys, 
and a great deal of argument as to who owned 
various articles of provender and equipment 
that had been brought into camp by MacMil- 
lan, and even I was on the point of jimiping 
into the fracas in order to see fair play, until 
a wink from MacMillan told me that it was 

87 



THE BIG LEAD 

simply a put-up job of his to disconcert the 
Esquimos. Confidentially and on the side he 
has been dressing his heel, which in spite of all 
keeps on freezing, and is in very bad shape. 
His kamiks stick to the loose flesh and the skin 
will not form. All of the frost has been taken 
out, but I think skin-grafting is the only thing 
that will cure it. He wants to keep on going 
and asks me how far we have gone and wants 
to know if he shall tell Commander Peary 
about his injury. I have advised him to make 
a clean breast of it, but he feels good for a 
week or so more, and it is up to him. 

We eat, and sleep, and watch the lead, and 
wonder. Are we to be repulsed again? Is 
the unseen, mysterious guardian of tliis mist- 
covered region foihng us? The Commander 
is taking it with a great deal more patience 
than he usually has with obstacles, but in the 
face of this one he probably realizes the ne- 
cessity of a calm, philosophic mood. 

Captain Bartlett has been here longer than 
any of us, and he is commencing to get nerv- 
ous. Commander Peary and he have done 
what is nautically known as "swinging the 
ship," for the purpose of correcting compass 

88 



THE BIG LEAD 

errors, and after that there is nothing for them 
to do but wait. Captain Bartlett describes it 
as "Hell on Earth" ; the Commander has noth- 
ing to say, and I agree with him. Dr. Good- 
sell reads from his Httle books, studies Esquimo 
language, writes in his diary and talks to me 
and the rest of the party, and waits. 

Professor JMacMillan, with his eye ever to 
the south, and an occasional glance at his 
frozen heel, cracks a joke and bids us be cheer- 
ful. He is one man^ and has surely made 
good. His first trip to this forsaken region, 
yet he wakes up from his sleep with a smile on 
his face and a question as to how a nice, large, 
juicy steak would go about now. This is no 
place for jokes, yet his jokes are cheering and 
make us all feel more light-hearted. He is 
the "life of the funeral" and by his cheerful- 
ness has kept our spirits from sinking to a 
dead level, and when the Esquimos commenced 
to get cranky, by his diplomacy he brought 
them to think of other subjects than going 
back to the ship. 

He has started to kid us along by institu- 
ting a series of competitions in athletic en- 
deavors, and the Esquimos fall for it like the 

89 



THE BIG LEAD 

Innocents that they are, and that is the object 
he is after. They have tried all of their native 
stunts, wrestling, boxing, thumb-pulling, and 
elbow-tests ; and each winner has been awarded 
a prize. JMost of the prizes are back on the 
ship and include the anchors, rudders, keel, 
and spars. Everything else has long since 
been given away, and these people have keen 
memories. 

The Big Lead has no attraction for the Es- 
quimos and the waiting for a chance to cross it 
has given them much opportunity to complain 
of cold feet. It is fierce, listening to their 
whines and howls. Of all yellow-livered curs 
deliver me. We have the best Esquimos in the 
tribe with us, and expect them to remain stead- 
fast and loyal, but after they have had time 
to realize their position, the precariousness of 
it begins to magnify and they start in to 
whimper, and beg to be allowed to go back. 
They remember the other side of this dam- 
nable open water and what it meant to get back 
in 1906. I do not blame them, but I have had 
the Devil's own time in making my boys and 
some of the others see it the way the Com- 
mander wants us to look at it. 

90 



THE BIG LEAD 

Indeed, two of the older ones, Panikpah and 
Pooadloonah, became so fractious that the 
Commander sent them back, with a written 
order to Gushue on the ship, to let them pack 
up their things and take their families and 
dogs back to Esquimo land, which they did. 
When the Roosevelt reached Etah the follow- 
ing August, on her return, these two men were 
there, fat and healthy, and merrily greeted us. 
No hard feelings whatever. 

March 10; We could have crossed to-day, 
but there was a chance of Marvin and Borup 
catching up with their loads of alcohol, etc. 
Whether they catch up or not, to-morrow, 
early, we start across, and the indications are 
that the going will be heavy, for the ice is piled 
in rafters of pressure-ridges. 

It was exasperating ; seven precious days of 
fine weather lost; and fine weather is the ex- 
ception, not the rule, in the Arctic. Here we 
were resting in camp, although we were not 
extremely tired and nowhere near exhausted. 
We were ready and anxious to travel on the 
5th, next morning after we reached the "Big 
Lead," but were perforce compelled to inac- 

91 



THE BIG LEAD 

tion. And so did we wait for nearly seven 
days beside that lead, before conditions were 
favorable for a crossing. 

But early in the morning of March 11th 
the full party started ; through the heaviest of 
going imaginable. Neither Borup nor Mar- 
vin had caught up, but we felt that unless 
something had happened to them, they would 
surely catch up in a few more days. 



92 



CHAPTER XII 

PIONEERING THE WAY ^BREAKING SLEDGES 

MARCH II, 1909: Clear, 45°. OiF we 
go! Marvin and Borup have not yet 
shown up, but the lead is shut and the orders 
since yesterday afternoon have been to stand 
by for only twelve hours more; and wliile the 
tea is brewing I am using the warmth to write. 
We could have crossed thirty hours ago, but 
Commander Peary would not permit us to 
take chances; he wants to keep the party to- 
gether as long as possible, and expects to have 
to send at least eight men back after the next 
march. MacMillan is not fit, and there are 
four or five of the natives who should be sent 
away. Three Esquimos apiece are too many, 
and I think Commander Peary is about ready 
to split the different crews of men and dogs. 
He himself is in very good shape and, due to 
his example. Captain Bartlett has again taken 
the field. A heavy storm of wind and snow is 

93 



PIONEERING 

in progress, but the motion of the ice remains 
satisfactory. 

This is not a regular camp. We are shel- 
tered north of a huge paleocrystic floeberg; 
and the dogs are at rest, with their noses in 
their tails. Dr. Goodsell has set his boys to 
work building an igloo, which will not be 
needed, for I see Ooqueah and Egingwah pil- 
ing up the loads on their sledges, and Professor 
MacMillan is very busy with his own personal 
sledge. No halt, only a breathing spell and, 
as I have predicted, we are on our way again. 
This is an extremely dangerous zone to halt 
or hazard in. The ice is liable to open here 
at any moment and let us either sink in the 
cold, black water or drift on a block of frozen 
ice, much too thin to enable us to get on to the 
heavy ice again. Three miles wide at least. 

The foregoing was written while out on the 
ice of the Arctic Ocean, just after crossing 
the raftered hummocks of the ice of the Big 
Lead. While we were waiting for the rest of 
the expedition to gather in, I slumped down 
behind a peak of land or paleocrystic ice, and 
made the entry in my diary. We were not 
tired out ; we had had more than six days' rest 

94 



PIONEERING 

at the lead; and when it closed we pushed on 
across the pressure-ridges on to the heavy and 
cumbrous ice of the circumpolar sea. We 
were sure that we had passed the main obstruc- 
tion, and in spite of the failure of Marvin and 
Borup to come in with the essentials of fuel- 
alcohol and food, Commander Peary insisted 
on pushing forward. 

Prof. Donald B. MacMillan was with the 
party, but Commander Peary knew, without 
his telling him, that he was really no longer fit 
to travel, and Dr. Goodsell was not as far 
north of the land as original plans intended, 
so when both MacMillan and Goodsell were 
told that they must start back to the ship, I 
was not surprised. 

It was on March 14 that the first support- 
ing-party finally turned back. It was my 
impression that Professor MacMillan would 
command it, but Commander Peary sent the 
Doctor back in charge, with the two boys Arco 
and Wesharkoupsi. A few hours before the 
turning back of Dr. Goodsell, an Esquimo 
courier from Professor Marvin's detachment 
had overtaken us, with the welcome news that 
both Borup and Marvin, with complete loads, 

95 



PIONEERING 

were immediately in our rear, safe across the 
lead that had so long delayed us. I was given 
instructions to govern my conduct for the fol- 
lowing five marches and I was told to be ready 
to start right after breakfast. 

Dr. Goodsell came to me, congratulated me 
and, with the best wishes for success, bade me 
good-by. He was loath to go back, but he re- 
turned to the ship with the hearty assurance 
of every one that he had done good and ef- 
fective work, equal to the best efforts of the 
more experienced members of the party. 

My boys, Ootah, Ahwatingwah, and Kool- 
ootingwah, under my command started north, 
to pioneer the route for five full marches, and 
it was with a firm resolve that I determined 
to cover a big mileage. We had been having 
extreme cold weather, as low as 59° below zero, 
and on the morning my party started the 
thermometers in the camp showed 49° below 
zero. 

An hour's travel brought us to a small lead, 
which was avoided by making a detour, and 
about four miles beyond this lead we came up 
to heavy old floes, on which the snow lay deep 
and soft. The sledges would sink to the depth 

96 



PIONEERING 

of the cross-bars. Traveling was slow, and the 
dogs became demons; at one time, sullen and 
stubborn ; then wildly excited and savage ; and 
in our handling of them I fear we became 
fiendlike ourselves. Frequently we would 
have to lift them bodily from the pits of snow, 
and snow^-filled fissures they had fallen into, 
and I am now sorry to say that we did not do 
it gently. The dogs, feehng the additional 
strain, refused to make the slightest effort 
when spoken to or touched with the whip, and 
to break them of this stubbornness, and to pre- 
vent further trouble, I took the leader or king 
dog of one team and, in the presence of the 
rest of the pack, I clubbed him severely. The 
dogs realized what was required of them, and 
that I would exact it of them in spite of what 
they would do, and they became submissive 
and pulled wilhngly, myself and the Esquimos 
doing our share at the upstanders. 

We got over the heavy floe-ice, to find our- 
selves confronted with jagged, rough ice, 
where we had to pickax our way. In one 
place we came to pressure-ridges separated by 
a deep gulch of very rough and uneven ice, 
in crossing which it took two men to manage 

97 



PIONEERING 

each sledge, and another man to help pull them 
up on to the more even ice. We crossed sev- 
eral leads, mostly frozen over, and kept on go- 
ing for over twelve hours. The mileage was 
small and, instead of elation, I felt discourage- 
ment. Two of the sledges had split their en- 
tire length and had to be repaired, and the 
going had been such that we could not cover 
any distance. We had a good long rest at 
the Big Lead for over six days, but at the end 
of this, my first day's pioneering, I was as 
tired out as I have ever been. It should be 
understood that while I was pioneering I was 
carrying the full-loaded sledges with about 550 
pounds, while the other parties that were in 
the lead never carried but half of the regular 
load, which made our progress much slower. 

March 15 : Bright, clear, and I am sure as 
cold as the record-breaking cold of the day 
previous. We made an early start, with hopes 
high; but the first two hours' traveling was 
simply a repetition of the going of the day 
before. But after that, and to the end of the 
day's march, the surface of the ice over which 
we traveled was most remarkably smooth. 
The fallen snow had packed solid into the areas 

98 



PIONEERING 

of rough ice and on the edges of the large 
floes. The dogs, with tails up and heads out, 
stamped off mile after mile in rapid succes- 
sion, and when we camped I conservatively 
made the estimate fifteen miles. It has to be 
good going to make such a distance with 
loaded sledges, but we made it and I was sat- 
isfied. 

March 16: We started going over ice con- 
ditions similar to the good part of the day 
before, but our hopes were soon shattered 
when the ice changed completely and, from be- 
ing stationary, a distinct motion become ob- 
servable. The movement of the ice increased, 
and the rumbhng and roaring, as it raftered, 
was deafening. A dense fog, the sure indica- 
tion of open water, overhung us, and in due 
time we came to the open lead, over which 
small broken floes were scattered, interspersed 
with thin young ice. These floes were hardly 
thick enough to hold a dog safely, but, there 
being no other way, we were obliged to cross 
on them. We set out with jaws squared by 
anxiety. A false step by any one would 
mean the end. With the utmost care, the 
sledges were placed on the most solid floes, 

99 



PIONEERING 

and, with Ootah, the most experienced, in the 
lead, we followed in single file. Once started, 
there was no stopping; but push on with the 
utmost care and even pressure. You know 
that we got across, but there were instants 
during the crossing when I had my strongest 
doubts. After crossing the lead, the ice con- 
dition became horrible. Almost at the same 
time, three of the sledges broke, one sledge be- 
ing completely smashed to pieces. We were 
forced to camp and start to work making two 
whole sledges from the wreckage of the three 
broken ones. 

We had barely completed this work when 
the Commander, the Captain, Marvin, Borup, 
and Esquimos came in. I was glad to see 
them all again, especially the smiling face of 
George Borup, whom I had not seen since the 
day he left Cape Columbia. 

We learned that MacMillan had been sent 
back to the ship on the 15th, that the party 
had been delayed on the second day's march 
by a new lead, which widened so rapidly and 
to such an extent that it was feared to be the 
twin sister of the Big Lead farther back. 

March 17: The whole party, with the ex- 

100 



PIONEERING 

ception of Professor Marvin and his detach- 
ment, remained in camp. Marvin v^as sent 
ahead to plot a route for the next marches of 
the column, and the party in camp busied itself 
in the general work of repairing sledges and 
equipment. 

The morning of the 18th found the main 
column ready to start, and start it did, in spite 
of the dreary outlook due to the condition of 
the weather and of the ice. Thermometer 40° 
below zero, and the loose ice to our right and 
in front distinctly in motion, but fortunately 
moving to the northward. A heavy wind of 
the force of a gale was at our backs, and for 
the first three miles our progress was slow. 
The hummocks of ice in wild disarrangement, 
and so difficult to cross that repeatedly the 
sledges were overturned; and one sledge was 
broken so badly that a halt had to be made to 
repair it. While repairing the sledge, our 
midday lunch of crackers was eaten. The 
dogs were not fed anything, experience having 
taught us that dogs will work better with hope 
for a reward in the future than when it is past. 

All that day the air was tliick with haze and 
frost and we felt the cold even more than 

lOX 



PIONEERING 

when the temperature was lower with the air 
clear. The wind would find the tiniest open- 
ing in our clothing and pierce us with the force 
of driving needles. Our hoods froze to our 
growing beards and when we halted we had to 
break away the ice that had been formed by 
the congealing of our breaths and from the 
moisture of perspiration exhaled by our bodies. 
When we finally camped and built our igloos, 
it was not with any degree of comfort that we 
lay down to rest. Actually it was more com- 
fortable to keep on the march, and when we 
did rest it was fatigue that compelled. 



102 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE SUPPORTING-PARTIES BEGIN TO TURN BACK 

MARCH 19: We left camp in a haze of 
bitter cold; the ice conditions about the 
same as the previous day; high rafters, huge 
and jagged; and we pickaxed the way con- 
tinuously. By noontime, we found ourselves 
alongside of a lead covered by a film of young 
ice. We forced the dogs and they took it on 
the run, the ice undulating beneath them, the 
same as it does when little wanton boys play 
at tichley benders, often with serious results, 
on the newly formed ice on ponds and brooks 
down in civilization. Our tickley benders 
were not done in the spirit of play, but on 
account of urgent necessity, and as it was I 
nearly suffered a serious loss of precious pos- 
sessions. 

One of the sledges, driven by Ahwatingwah, 
broke through the ice and its load, which con- 
sisted of my extra equipment, such as kamiks, 

103 



PARTIES TURN BACK 

mittens, etc., was thoroughly soaked. Luck- 
ily for the boy, he was at the side of the sledge 
and escaped a ducking. Foolishly I rushed 
over, but, quickly realizing my danger, I 
slowed down, and with the utmost care he 
fished out the sledge, and the dogs, shaking 
as with palsy, were gently urged on. Walk- 
ing wide, like the polar bear, we crept after, 
and without further incident reached the oppo- 
site side of the lead. My team had reached 
there before me and, with human intelligence, 
the dogs had dragged the sledge to a place of 
safety and were sitting on their haunches, with 
ears cocked forward, watching us in our pre- 
carious predicament. They seemed to rejoice 
at our deliverance, and as I went among them 
and untangled their traces I could not forbear 
giving each one an affectionate pat on the 
head. 

For the next five hours our trail lay over 
heavy pressure ridges, in some places sixty 
feet high. We had to make a trail over the 
mountains of ice and then come back for the 
sledges. A difficult cMmb began. Pushing 
from our very toes, straining every muscle, 
urging the dogs with voice and whip, we 

104 



PARTIES TURN BACK 

guided the sledges. On several occasions the 
dogs gave it up, standing still in their tracks, 
and we had to hold the sledges with the 
strength of our hones and muscles to prevent 
them from sliding backwards. When we had 
regained our equilibrium the dogs were again 
started, and in this way we gained the tops of 
the pressure-ridges. 

Going down on the opposite side was more 
nerve-racking. On the descent of one ridge, 
in spite of the experienced care of Ootah, the 
sledge bounded away from him, and at a de- 
clivity of thirty feet was completely wrecked. 
The frightened dogs dashed wildly in every 
direction to escape the falling sledge, and as 
quickly as possible we slid down the steep in- 
cline, at the same time guiding the dogs at- 
tached to the two remaining sledges. We 
rushed over, my two boys and I, to the spot 
where the poor dogs stood trembling with 
fright. We released them from the tangle 
they were in, and, with kind words and pats of 
the hand on their heads, quieted them. For 
over an hour we struggled with the broken 
pieces of the wreck and finally lashed them to- 
gether with strips of oog-sook (seal-hide). 

105 



PARTIES TURN BACK 

We said nothing to the Commander when he 
caught up with us, but his quick eye took in 
at a glance the experience we had been 
through. The repairs having been completed, 
we again started. Before us stretched a 
heavy, old floe, giving us good going until we 
reached the lead, when the order was given to 
camp. We built our igloos, and boiled the tea 
and had what we called supper. 

Commander Peary called me over to his 
igloo and gave me my orders: first; that I 
should at once select the best dogs of the three 
teams, as the ones disqualified by me would on 
the following morning be sent back to the ship, 
in care of the third supporting party, which 
was to turn back. Secondly ; that I should re- 
arrange the loads on the remainder of the 
sledges, there now being ten in number. It 
was eight p. m. when I began work and two 
the following morning when I had finished. 

March 20: During the night, the Com- 
mander had a long talk with Borup, and in 
the morning my good friend, in command of 
the third supporting party, bade us all good- 
by and took his detachment back to land and 
headquarters. There were three Esquimos 

106 



PARTIES TURN BACK 

and seventeen dogs in his party. A fine and 
plucky young man, whose cheerful manner 
and ready willingness had made him a prime 
favorite ; and he had done his work like an old 
campaigner. 

At the time of Borup's turning southward, 
Captain Bartlett, with two Esquimos, started 
out to the north to make trail. He was to act 
as pioneer. At ten-thirty a. m., I, with two 
Esquimos, followed; leaving at the igloos the 
Commander and Professor Marvin, with four 
Esquimos. The system of our marches from 
now on was that the first party, or pioneers, 
which consisted of Captain Bartlett, myself, 
and our Esquimos, should be trail-making, 
while the second party, consisting of Comman- 
der Peary and Marvin, with their Esquimos, 
should be sleeping; and while the first party 
was sleeping, the second should be traveling 
over the trail previously made. The sun was 
above the horizon the whole twenty- four hours 
of the day, and accordingly there was no dark- 
ness. Either the first or second party was al- 
ways traveling, and progress was hourly made. 

March 21: Captain Bartlett got away 
early, leaving me in camp to await the arrival 

107 



PARTIES TURN BACK 

of Commander Peary and Marvin, with their 
party ; and it was eight a. m. when they ar- 
rived. Commander Peary instructed me to 
the effect that, when I overtook the Captain, 
I should tell him to make as much speed as 
possible. 

The going was, for the first hour, over 
rough, raftered ice. Great care and caution 
had to be observed, but after that we reached 
a stretch of undulated, level ice, extending 
easily fifteen miles ; and the exhilarating effect 
made our spirits rise. The snow-covering was 
soft, but with the help of our snow-shoes we 
paced off the miles, and at noon we caught up 
with the Captain and his boys. Together we 
traveled on, and at the end of an hour's going 
we halted for our noon-meal, consisting of a 
can of tea and three biscuits per man, the dogs 
doing the hungry looking on, as dogs have 
done and do and will do forever. As we sat 
and ate, we joshed each other, and the Es- 
quimo boys joined in the good-natured rail- 
lery. 

The meal did not detain us long, and soon 
we were pushing on again as quickly as pos- 
sible over the level ice, fearing that if we de- 

108 



PARTIES TURN BACK 

layed the condition of the ice would change, 
for changes come suddenly, and frequently 
without warning. At nine P. m. we camped, 
the Captain having been on the go for fifteen 
hours, and I for thirteen; and we estimated 
that we had a good fourteen miles to our 
credit. 

March 22 was the finest day we had, and it 
was a day of unusual clearness and calm; 
practically no wind and a cloudless sky. The 
fields of ice and snow sparkled and glistened 
and the daylight lasted for the full twenty- 
four hours. It was six a. m. when Eging- 
wah, the Commander's Esquimo courier, 
reached our camp, with the note of command 
and encouragement ; and immediately the Cap- 
tain and I left camp. 

Stretching to the northward was a bril- 
liantly illuminated, level, and slightly drifted 
snow-plain, our imperial highway, presenting 
a spectacle grand and sublime; and we were 
truly grateful and inwardly prayed that this 
condition would last indefinitely. Without 
incident or accident, we marched on for fifteen 
hours, pacing oif mile after mile in our steady 
northing, and at nine p. m. we halted. It was 

109 



PARTIES TURN BACK 

then we realized how utterly fatigued and ex- 
hausted we were. It took us over an hour 
and a half to build our igloos. We had a hard 
time finding suitable snow conditions for 
building them, and the weather was frightfully 
cold. The evening meal of pemmican-stew 
and tea was prepared, the dogs were fed, and 
we turned in. 

March 23: Our sleep-banked eyes were 
opened by the excitement caused by the arrival 
of Marvin and his division. He reported the 
same good going that we had had the day ber 
fore, and also that he had taken an elevation 
of the sun and computed his latitude as 85° 46' 
north. We turned the igloos over to Marvin 
and his Esquimos, who were to await the ar- 
rival of the Commander, and Captain Bartlett 
and myself got our parties under way. 

Conditions are never similar, no two days are 
the same ; and our going this day was nothing 
like the paradise of the day before. At a lit- 
tle distance from the igloos we encountered 
high masses of heavily-rubbled, old ice. The 
making of a trail through these masses of ice 
caused us to use our pickaxes continuously. 
It was backing and filling all of the time. 

110 



PARTIES TURN BACK 

First we would reconnoiter, then we would 
hew our way and make the trail, then we would 
go back and, getting in the traces, help the 
dogs pull the sledges, which were still heavily 
loaded. This operation was repeated prac- 
tically all the day of JMarch 23, except for the 
last hour of traveling, when we zigzagged to 
the eastward, where the ice appeared less 
formidable, consisting of small floes with rub- 
ble ice between and a heavy, old floe beyond. 
There we camped. The latitude was 85° 46' 
north. 

The course from the land to the Pole was 
not direct and due north, for we followed the 
lines of least resistance, and frequently found 
ourselves going due east or west, in order to 
detour around pressure ridges, floebergs, and 
leads. 

March 24: Commander Peary reached 
camp shortly after six a. m., and after a few 
brief instructions, we started out. The go- 
ing not as heavy as the day previous; but the 
sky overcast, and a heavy drift on the surface 
made it decidedly unpleasant for the dogs. 
For the first six hours the going was over 
rough, jagged ice, covered with deep, soft 

111 



PARTIES TURN BACK 

snow; for the rest of the day it improved. 
We encountered comparatively level ice, with 
a few hummocks, and in places covered with 
deep snow. We camped at eight p. m., be- 
side a very heavy pressure-ridge as long as a 
city street and as high as the houses along the 
street. 

March 25: Turned out at four-thirty 
A. M., to find a steadily falling snow storm 
upon us. We breakfasted, and fifteen min- 
utes later we were once more at work making 
trail. Our burly neighbor, the pressure-ridge, 
in whose lee we had spent the night, did not 
make an insuperable obstacle, and in the 
course of an hour we had made a trail across 
it, and returned to the igloo for the sledges. 
We found that the main column had reached 
camp, and after greetings had been given. 
Commander Peary called me aside and gave 
me my orders; to take the trail at once, to 
speed it up to the best of my ability and 
cover as much distance as possible; for he in- 
tended that I should remain at the igloo the 
following day to sort out the best dogs and 
rearrange the loads, as Marvin was to turn 
back with the fourth supporting-party. My 

112 



PARTIES TURN BACK 

heart stopped palpitating, I breathed easier, 
and my mind was relieved. It was not my 
turn yet, I was to continue onward and there 
only remained one person between me and the 
Pole — the Captain. We knew Commander 
Peary's general plan: that, at the end of cer- 
tain periods, certain parties would turn south 
to the land and the ship ; but we did not know 
who would comprise or command those parties 
and, until I had the Commander's word, I 
feared that I would be the next after Borup. 
At the same time, I did not see how Marvin 
could travel much longer, as his feet were 
veryjiadly: frozen. '" --— 

Obedient to the Commander's orders, the 
Captain, I, and our Esquimos, left camp 
with loaded sledges and trudged over the 
newly made trail, coming to rough ice which 
stretched for a distance of five miles, and kept 
us hard at back-straining, shoulder-wrench- 
ing work for several hours. The rest of the 
day's march was over level, unbroken, young 
ice; and the distance covered was considerable. 

March 26: The Commander and party 
reached the igloo at ten- forty-five a. m. 
Captain Bartlett had taken to the trail at six 

113 



PARTIES TURN BACK 

A. M., and was now miles to the northward, 
out of sight. I immediately started to work 
on the task assigned me by the Commander, 
assorting the dogs first, so that the different 
king dogs could fight it out and adjust them- 
selves to new conditions while I was rearrang- 
ing the loads. 

At twelve, noon. Professor Marvin took his 
final sight, and after figuring it out told me 
that he made it 86"^ 38' north. 

The work of readjusting the loads kept me 
busy until seven p. m. While doing this work 
I came across my Bible that I had neglected 
so long, and that night, before going to sleep, 
I read the twenty-third Psalm, and the fifth 
chapter of St. Matthew. 

March 27: I was to take the trail at six 
A. M., but before starting I went over to 
Marvin's igloo to bid him good-by. In his 
quiet, earnest manner, he advised me to keep 
on, and hoped for our success; he congratu- 
lated me and w^e gave each other the strong, 
fraternal grip of our honored fraternity and 
we confidently expected to see each other 
again at the ship. My good, kind friend was 
never again to see us, or talk with us. It is 

114 



PARTIES TURN BACK 

sad to write this. He went back to his death, 
drowned in the cold, black water of the Big 
Lead. In unmarked, unmarbled grave, he 
sleeps his last, long sleep. 



115 



CHAPTER XIV 

BARTLETT's farthest north HIS QUIET 

GOOD-BY 

T EAVING the Commander and Marvin 
^ at the igloos, my party took up the Cap- 
tain's trail northward. It was expected that 
Peary would follow in an hour and that at 
the same time Marvin would start his return 
march. After a few minutes' going, we came 
to young ice of this season, broken up and 
frozen solid, not difficult to negotiate, but re- 
quiring constant pulling ; leaving this, we came 
to an open lead which caused us to make a 
detour to the westward for four miles. We 
crossed on ice so thin that one of the sledge- 
runners broke through, and a little beyond 
one of the dogs fell in so completely that it 
was a precarious effort to rescue him; but we 
made it and, doglike, he shook the water out 
of his fur and a little later, when his fur froze, 
I gave him a thorough beating; not for fall- 

116 



BARTLETT'S FARTHEST 

ing in the water, but in order to loosen the 
ice-particles, so that he could shake them off. 
Poor brute, it was no use, and in a short while 
he commenced to develop symptoms of the 
dread piblokto, so in mercy he was killed. 
One of the Esquimo boys did the killing. 

Dangerous as the crossing was, it was the 
only place possible, and we succeeded far 
better than we had anticipated. Beyond the 
lead we came to an old floe and, beyond that, 
young ice of one season's formation, similar 
to that which had been encountered earlier in 
the day. Before us lay a heavy, old floe, 
covered with soft, deep snow in which we 
sank continually; but it was only five p. m. 
when we reached the Captain's igloo. Antici- 
pating the arrival of the Commander, we built 
another igloo, and about an hour and a half 
later the Commander and his party came in. 

March 28: Exactly 40° below zero when 
we pushed the sledges up to the curled-up 
dogs and started them off over rough ice 
covered with deep soft snow. It was hke 
walking in loose granulated sugar. Indeed 
I might compare the snow of the Arctic to 
the granules of sugar, without their saccharine 

117 



BARTLETT'S FARTHEST 

sweetness, but with freezing cold instead; you 
can not make snowballs of it, for it is too 
thoroughly congealed, and when it is packed 
by the wind it is almost as solid as ice. It is 
from the packed snow that the blocks used to 
form the igloo-walls are cut. 

At the end of four hours, we came to the 
igloo where the Captain and his boys were 
sleeping the sleep of utter exhaustion. In 
order not to interrupt the Captain's rest, we 
built another igloo and unloaded his sledge, 
and distributed the greater part of the load 
among the sledges of the party. The Cap- 
tain, on awakening, told us that the journey 
we had completed on that day had been made 
by him under the most trying conditions, and 
that it had taken him fourteen hours to do it. 
We were able to make better time because we 
had his trail to follow, and, therefore, the ne- 
cessity of finding the easiest way was avoided. 
That was the object of the scout or pioneer 
party and Captain Bartlett had done prac- 
tically all of it up to the time he turned back 
at 87° 48' north. 

March 29: You have undoubtedly taken 
into consideration the pangs of hunger and 

118 



BARTLETT'S FARTHEST 

of cold that you know assailed us, going Pole- 
ward; but have you ever considered that we 
were thirsty for water to drink or hungry for 
fat ? To eat snow to quench our thirsts would 
have been the height of folly, and as well as 
being thirsty, we were continuously assailed 
by the pangs of a hunger that called for the 
fat, good, rich, oily, juicy fat that our sys- 
tems craved and demanded. 

Had we succumbed to the temptations of 
thirst and eaten the snow, we would not be 
able to tell the tale of the conquest of the 
Pole; for the result of eating snow is death. 
True, the dogs licked up enough moisture to 
quench their thirsts, but we were not made of 
such stern stuff as they. Snow would have 
reduced our temperatures and we would 
quickly have fallen by the way. We had to 
wait until camp was made and the fire of 
alcohol started before we had a chance, and 
it was with hot tea that we quenched our 
thirsts. The hunger for fat was not ap- 
peased; a dog or two was killed, but his car- 
cass went to the Esquimos and the entrails 
were fed to the rest of the pack. We ate no 
dogs on this trip, for various reasons, mainly, 

119 



BARTLETT'S FARTHEST 

that the eating of dog is only a last resort, 
and we had plenty of food, and raw dog is 
flavorless and very tough. The kilhng of a 
dog is such a horrible matter that I will not 
describe it, and it is permitted only when all 
other exigencies have been exhausted. An 
Esquimo does not permit one drop of blood to 
escape. 

The morning of the 29th of March, 1909, 
a heavy and dense fog of frost spicules over- 
hung the camp. At four a. m., the Captain 
left camp to make as far a northing as pos- 
sible. I with my Esquimos followed later. 
On our way we passed over very rough ice 
alternating with small floes, young ice of a 
few months' duration, and one old floe. We 
were now beside a lead of over three hundred 
feet in width, which we were unable to cross 
at that time because the ice was running 
steadily, though to the Northward. Follow- 
ing the trail of the Captain, which carried us 
a little to the westward of the lead, within one 
hundred feet of the Captain's igloo, the order 
to camp was given, as going forward was im- 
possible. The whole party was together 
farther north than had ever been made by any 

120 



BARTLETT'S FARTHEST 

other human beings, and in perfectly good 
condition; but the time was quickly coming 
when the little party would have to be made 
smaller and some part of it sent back. We 
were too fatigued to argue the question. 

We turned in for a rest and sleep, but soon 
turned out again in pandemonium incompre- 
hensible; the ice moving in all directions, our 
igloos wrecked, and every instant our very 
lives in danger. With eyes dazed by sleep, 
we tried to guide the terror-stricken dogs and 
push the sledges to safety, but rapidly we saw 
the party being separated and the black water 
begin to appear amid the roar of the breaking 
ice floes. 

To the westward of our igloo stood the 
Captain's igloo, on an island of ice, which 
revolved, while swiftly drifting to the east- 
ward. On one occasion the floe happened to 
strike the main floe. The Captain, intently 
watching his opportunity, quickly crossed with 
his Esquimos. He had scarcely set foot on 
the opposite floe when the floe on which he had 
been previously isolated swung off, and 
rapidly disappeared. 

Once more the parties were together. 

121 



BARTLETT'S FARTHEST 

Thoroughly exhausted, we turned in and fell 
asleep, myself and the Esquimos too dumb 
for utterance, and Commander Peary and 
Bartlett too full of the realization of our es- 
cape to have much to say. 

The dogs were in very good condition, tak- 
ing everything into consideration. 

When we woke up it was the morning of 
another day, March 30, and we found open 
water all about us. We could not go on until 
either the lead had frozen or until it had 
raftered shut. Temperature 35° below zero, 
and the weather clear and calm with no visible 
motion of the ice. We spent the day indus- 
triously in camp, mending foot-gear, harness, 
clothing, and looking after the dogs and their 
traces. This was work enough, especially un- 
tangling the traces of the bewildered dogs. 
The traces, snarled and entangled, besides be- 
ing frozen to the consistency of wire, gave us 
the hardest work; and, owing to the activity 
of the dogs in leaping and bounding over each 
other, we had the most unideal conditions pos- 
sible to contend with, and we were handicapped 
by having to use mitted instead of ungloved 
fingers to untangle the snarls of knots. Un- 

122 




CAMP MORRIS K. JESUP AT THE NORTH POLE 
(From Henson's own Photograph) 




MATTHEW A. HENSON IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE SLEDGE 

JOURNEY TO THE POLE AND BACK 

(Showing the effect of the excessive strain. Compare with frontispiece 

and with portrait facing page 139) 



BARTLETT'S FARTHEST 

like Alexander the Great, we dared not cut 
the "Gordian Knots," but we did get them 
untangled. 

About five o'clock in the afternoon, the 
temperature had fallen to 43° below zero, and 
at the same time the ice began to move again. 
Owing to the attraction of the moon, the 
mighty flanks of the earth were being drawn 
by her invisible force, and were commencing 
again to crack and be rent asunder. 

We loaded up hurriedly and all three par- 
ties left the camp and crossed over the place 
where recently had been the open lead, and 
beyond for more than five miles, until we 
reached the heavier and solid ice of the large 
floes. Northward our way led, and we kept 
on in that direction accordingly, at times 
crossing j^oung ice so thin that the motion of 
the sledges would cause the ice to undulate. 
Over old floes of the blue, hummocky kind, on 
which the snow had fallen and become packed 
solid, the rest of this day's journey was 
completed. We staggered into camp Hke 
drunken men, and built our igloos by force of 
habit rather than with the intelhgence of hu- 
man beings. 

123 



BARTLETT'S FARTHEST 

It was continuously daylight, but such a 
light as never was on land or sea. 

The next day was April 1, and the Farthest 
North of Bartlett. I knew at this time that 
he was to go back, and that I was to continue, 
so I had no misgivings and neither had he. 
He was ready and anxious to take the back- 
trail. His five marches were up and he was 
glad of it, and he was told that in the morn- 
ing he must turn back and knit the trail to- 
gether, so that the main column could return 
over a beaten path. 

Before going to sleep, Peary and he (Cap- 
tain Bartlett) had figured out the reckoning 
of the distance, and, to insure the Captain's 
making at least 88° north, Peary let him have 
another go, for a short distance northward, and 
at noon on the day of his return, the observa- 
tions showed that Captain Bartlett had made 
87° 47' North Latitude, or practically 88° 
north. "Why, Peary," he said, "it is just like 
every day," and so it was, with this exception, 
like every day in the Arctic, but with all of 
every day's chances and hazards. The lion-like 
month of March had passed. Captain Bartlett 
bade us all farewell. He turned back from 

124 



BARTLETT'S FARTHEST 

the Farthest North that had ever been reached 
by any one, to insure the safe return of him 
who was to go to a still Farther North, the 
very top of the world, the Pole itself. 

While waiting for Bartlett to return from 
his forced march, the main party had been at 
work, assorting dogs (by tliis time without 
much trouble, as only one was found utterly 
unfit to make progress), and rearranging 
loads, for the Captain had almost three 
hundred miles of sea-ice to negotiate be- 
fore he would reach terra firma, and he had 
to have his food-supply arranged so that it 
would carry him to the land and back to the 
ship, and dogs in good enough condition to 
pull the loads, as well as enough sledges to 
bear his equipment. When he did come back 
to our camp, before the parting, he was per- 
fectly satisfied, and with the same old confi- 
dence he swept his little party together and at 
three p. m., with a cheery "Good-by! Good 
Luck!" he was off. His Esquimo boys, at- 
tempting in English, too, gave us their "Good- 
bys." The least emotional of all of our part- 
ings; and this brave man, who had borne the 
brunt of all of the hardships, like the true- 

125 



BARTLETT'S FARTHEST 

blue, dead-game, unconquerable hero that he 
was, set out to do the work that was left for 
him to do; to knit the broken strands of our 
upward trail together, so that we who were 
at his rear could follow in safety. 

I have never heard the story of the return 
of Captain Bartlett in detail; his Esquimo 
boys were incapable of telling it, and Captain 
Bartlett is altogether too modest. 



126 



CHAPTER XV 

THE pole! 

r^ ATTAIN BARTLETT and his two 
^-^ boys had commenced their return jour- 
ney, and the main column, depleted to its final 
strength, started northward. We were six: 
Peary, the commander, the Esquimos, Ootah, 
Egingwah, Seegloo and Ooqueah, and myself. 

Day and night were the same. My 
thoughts were on the going and getting for- 
ward, and on nothing else. The wind was 
from the southeast, and seemed to push us on, 
and the sun was at our backs, a ball of livid 
fire, rolhng his way above the horizon in never- 
ending day. 

The Captain had gone. Commander Peary 
and I were alone (save for the four Es- 
quimos), the same as we had been so often 
in the past years, and as we looked at each 
other we realized our position and we knew 
without speaking that the time had come for 

127 



THE POLE! 

us to demonstrate that we were the men who, 
it had been ordained, should unlock the door 
which held the mystery of the Arctic. With- 
out an instant's hesitation, the order to push 
on was given, and we started off in the trail 
made by the Captain to cover the Farthest 
North he had made and to push on over one 
hundred and thirty miles to our final desti- 
nation. 

The Captain had had rough going, but, ow- 
ing to the fact that his trail was our track 
for a short time, and that we came to good 
going shortly after leaving his turning point, 
we made excellent distance without any trou- 
ble, and only stopped when we came to a lead 
barely frozen over, a full twenty-five miles be- 
yond. We camped and waited for the strong 
southeast wind to force the sides of the lead 
together. The Esquimos had eaten a meal 
of stewed dog, cooked over a fire of wood 
from a discarded sledge, and, owing to their 
wonderful powers of recuperation, were in 
good condition; Commander Peary and my- 
self, rested and invigorated by our thirty hours 
in the last camp, waiting for the return and 
departure of Captain Bartlett, were also in fine 

128 



THE POLE! 

fettle, and accordingly the accomplishment of 
twenty-five miles of northward progress was 
not exceptional. With my proven ability in 
gauging distances, Commander Peary was 
ready to take the reckoning as I made it and 
he did not resort to solar observations until 
we were within a hand's grasp of the Pole. 

The memory of those last five marches, 
from the Farthest North of Captain Bartlett 
to the arrival of our party at the Pole, is a 
memory of toil, fatigue, and exhaustion, but 
we were urged on and encouraged by our re- 
lentless commander, who was himself being 
scourged by the final lashings of the dominat- 
ing influence that had controlled his life. 
From the land to 87° 48' north, Commander 
Peary had had the best of the going, for he 
had brought up the rear and had utilized the 
trail made by the preceding parties, and thus 
he had kept himself in the best of condition 
for the time when he made the spurt that 
brought him to the end of the race. From 
87° 48' north, he kept in the lead and did his 
work in such a way as to convince me that he 
was still as good a man as he had ever been. 
We marched and marched, falling down in 

129 



THE POLE! 

our tracks repeatedly, until it was impossible 
to go on. We were forced to camp, in spite 
of the impatience of the Commander, who 
found himself unable to rest, and who only 
waited long enough for us to relax into sound 
sleep, when he would wake us up and start us 
oiF again. I do not beUeve that he slept for 
one hour from April 2 until after he had 
loaded us up and ordered us to go back over 
our old trail, and I often think that from the 
instant when the order to return was given 
until the land was again sighted, he was in 
a continual daze. 

Onward we forced our weary way. Com- 
mander Peary took his sights from the time 
our chronometer-watches gave, and I, know- 
ing that we had kept on going in practically 
a straight line, was sure that we had more 
than covered the necessary distance to insure 
our arrival at the top of the earth. 

It was during the march of the 3d of April 
that I endured an instant of hideous horror. 
We were crossing a lane of moving ice. Com- 
mander Peary was in the lead setting the pace, 
and a half hour later the four boys and my- 
self followed in single file. They had all 

130 



THE POLE! 

gone before, and I was standing and push- 
ing at the upstanders of my sledge, when the 
block of ice I was using as a support slipped 
from underneath my feet, and before I knew 
it the sledge was out of my grasp, and I was 
floundering in the water of the lead. I did 
the best I could. I tore my hood from oif 
my head and struggled frantically. My 
hands were gloved and I could not take hold 
of the ice, but before I could give the "Grand 
Hailing Sigh of Distress," faithful old Ootah 
had grabbed me by the nape of the neck, the 
same as he would have grabbed a dog, and 
with one hand he pulled me out of the water, 
and with the other hurried the team across. 

He had saved my life, but I did not tell 
him so, for such occurrences are taken as part 
of the day's work, and the sledge he safe- 
guarded was of much more importance, for it 
held, as part of its load, the Commander's sex- 
tant, the mercury, and the coils of piano-wire 
that were the essential portion of the scientific 
part of the expedition. My kamiks (boots of 
sealskin) were stripped oif, and the congealed 
water was beaten out of my bearskin trousers, 
and with a dry pair of kamiks, we hurried on 

131 



THE POLE! 

to overtake the column. When we caught up, 
we found the boys gathered around the Com- 
mander, doing their best to relieve him of his 
discomfort, for he had fallen into the water 
also, and while he was not complaining, I was 
sure that his bath had not been any more volun- 
tary than mine had been. 

When we halted on April 6, 1909, and 
started to build the igloos, the dogs and 
sledges having been secured, I noticed Com- 
mander Peary at work unloading his sledge 
and unpacking several bundles of equipment. 
He pulled out from under his kooletah (thick, 
fur outer-garment) a small folded package 
and unfolded it. I recognized his old silk 
flag, and realized that this was to be a camp 
of importance. Our different camps had been 
known as Camp ISTumber One, Number Two, 
etc., but after the turning back of Captain 
Bartlett, the camps had been given names such 
as Camp Nansen, Camp Cagni, etc., and I 
asked what the name of this camp was to be — 
"Camp Peary" ? "This, my boy, is to be Camp 
Morris K. Jesup, the last and most northerly 
camp on the earth." He fastened the flag to 
a staffs and planted it firmly on the top of his 

132 



THE POLE! 

igloo. For a few minutes it hui note«. on a 
lifeless in the dead calm of the hazOyUnd then 
a slight breezes increasing in strength, caused 
the folds to straighten out, and soon it was 
' rippling out in sparkling color. The stars 
^and stripes were ^'nailed to the Pole." 

A thrill of patriotism ran through me and 
I raised my voice to cheer the starry emblem 
of my native land. The Esquimos gathered 
around and, taking the time from Commander 
Peary, three hearty cheers rang out on the 
still, frosty air, our dumb dogs looking on in 
puzzled surprise. As prospects for getting a 
sight of the sun were not good, we turned in 
and slept, leaving the flag proudly floating 
above us. 

This was a thin silk flag that Commander 
Peary had carried on all of his Arctic 
journeys, and he had always flown it at his 
last camps. It was as glorious and as in- 
spiring a banner as any battle-scarred, 
blood-stained standard of the world — and 
this badge of honor and courage was also 
blood-stained and battle-scarred, for at sev- 
eral places there were blank squares mark- 
ing the spots where pieces had been cut 

133 



THE POLE! 

of the "Farthests" of its brave 
Dearer, i2J^A left with the records in the cairns, 
as mute but eloquent witnesses of his achieve- 
ments. At the North Pole a diagonal strip 
running from the upper left to the lower right 
corner was cut and this precious strip, together 
with a brief record, was placed in an empty 
tin, sealed up and buried in the ice, as a record 
for all time. 

Commander Peary also had another Amer- 
ican flag, sewn on a white ground, and it was 
the emblem of the "Daughters of the Revolu- 
tion Peace Society"; he also had and flew the 
emblem of the Navy League, and the emblems 
of a couple of college fraternities of which 
he was a member. 

It was about ten or ten-thirty a. m., on the 
7th of April, 1909, that the Commander gave 
the order to build a snow-shield to protect him 
from the flying drift of the surface-snow. I 
knew that he was about to take an observation, 
and while we worked I was nervously appre- 
hensive, for I felt that the end of our journey 
had come. When we handed him the pan of 
mercury the hour was within a very few" min- 
utes of noon. Laying flat on his stomach, he 

134 



THE POLE! 

took the elevation and made the notes on a 
piece of tissue-paper at his head. With sun- 
blinded eyes, he snapped shut the vei^nier (a 
graduated scale that subdivides the smallest 
divisions on the sector of the circular scale of 
the sextant) and with the resolute squaring 
of his jaws, I was sure that he was satisfied, 
and I was confident that the journey had 
ended. Feeling that the time had come, I un- 
gloved my right hand and went forward to 
congratulate him on the success of our eighteen 
years of effort, but a gust of wind blew 
something into his eye, or else the burning 
pain caused by his prolonged look at the re- 
flection of the limb of the sun forced him to 
turn aside; and with both hands covering his 
eyes, he gave us orders to not let him sleep 
for more than four hours, for six hours later 
he purposed to take another sight about four 
miles beyond, and that he wanted at least two 
hours to make the trip and get everything in 
readiness. 

I unloaded a sledge, and reloaded it with a 
couple of skins, the instruments, and a cooker 
with enough alcohol and food for one meal 
for three, and then I turned in to the igloo 

135 



THE POLE! 

where my boys were already sound asleep. 
The thermometer registered 29° below zero. 
I fell into a dreamless sleep and slept for 
about a minute, so I thought, when I was 
awakened by the clatter and noise made by 
the return of Peary and his boys. 

The Commander gave the word, "We will 
plant the stars and stripes — at the North 
PoleT and it was done; on the peak of a 
huge paleocrystic floeberg the glorious ban- 
ner was unfurled to the breeze, and as it 
snapped and crackled with the wind, I felt 
a savage joy and exultation. Another world's 
accomplishment was done and finished, and 
as in the past, from the beginning of history, 
wherever the world's work was done by a white 
man, he had been accompanied by a colored 
man. From the building of the pyramids and 
the journey to the Cross, to the discovery of 
the new world and the discovery of the North 
Pole, the Negro had been the faithful and 
constant companion of the Caucasian, and I 
felt all that it was possible for me to feel, that 
it was I, a lowly member of my race, who had 
been chosen by fate to represent it, at this, 
almost the last of the world's great work. 

136 



THE POLE! 

The four Esquimos who stood with Com- 
mander Peary at the North Pole, were the 
brothers, Ootah and Egingwah, the old cam- 
paigner, Seegloo, and the sturdy, boyish 
Ooqueah. Four devoted companions, blindly 
confident in the leader, they worked only that 
he might succeed and for the promise of re- 
ward that had been made before they had left 
the ship, which promise they were sure would 
be kept. Together with the faithful dogs, 
these men had insured the success of the mas- 
ter. They had all of the characteristics of 
the dogs, including the dogs' fidelity. Within 
their breasts hngered the same infatuations 
that Commander Peary seemed to inspire in 
all who were with him, and though frequently 
complaining and constantly requiring to be 
urged to do their utmost, they worked faith- 
fully and willingly. Ootah, of my party, was 
the oldest, a married man, of about thirty- 
four years, and regarded as the best all around 
member of the tribe, a great hunter, a kind 
father, and a good provider. Owing to his 
strong character and the fact that he was more 
easily managed by me than by any of the 
others, he had been a member of my party 

137 



THE POLE! 

from the time we left the ship. Without 
exaggeration, I can say that we had both 
saved each other's hves more than once, but 
it had all gone in as part of the day's work, 
and neither of us dwelt on our obligations to 
the other. 

My other boy, Ooqueah, was a young man 
of about nineteen or twenty, very sturdy and 
stocky of build, and with an open, honest 
countenance, a smile that was "child-like and 
bland," and a character that was child-like and 
bland. It was alleged that the efforts of 
young Ooqueah were spurred on by the shafts 
of love, and that it was in the hopes of winning 
the hand of the demure Miss Anadore, the 
charming daughter of Ikwah, the first Es- 
quimo of Commander Peary's acquaintance, 
that he worked so valiantly. His efforts 
were of an ardent character, but it was not 
due to the ardor of love, as far as I could 
see, but to his desire to please and his anxiety 
to win the promised rewards that would raise 
him to the gi^ade of a millionaire, according to 
Esquimo standards. 

Commander Peary's boy, Egingwah, was 
the brother of my boy Ootah, also married and 

138 




MATTHEW A. HENSON IN HIS NORTH POLE FURS, TAKEN 
AFTER HIS RETURN TO CIVILIZATION 



THE POLE! 

of good report in his community, and it was 
he who drove the Morris K. Jesup sledge. 

If there was any sentiment among the Es- 
quimos in regard to the success of the venture, 
Ootah and Seegloo by their unswerving loy- 
alty and fidehty expressed it. They had been 
members of the "Farthest North party" in 
1906, the party that was almost lost beyond 
and in the "Big Lead," and only reached the 
land again in a state of almost complete col- 
lapse. They were the ones who, on bidding 
Commander Peary farewell in 1906, when he 
was returning, a saddened and discouraged 
man, told him to be of good cheer and that 
when he came back again Ootah and Seegloo 
would go along, and stay until Commander 
Peary had succeeded, and they did. The 
cowardice of their fellow Esquimos at the 
"Big Lead" on this journey did not in the 
least demoralize them, and when they were 
absolutely alone on the trail, with every chance 
to turn back and return to comfort, wife, and 
family, they remained steadfast and true, and 
ever northward guided their sledges. 



139 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE FAST TREK BACK TO LAND 

HTHE long trail was finished, the work was 
-*■ done, and there was only left for us to 
return and tell the tale of the doing. Reac- 
tion had set in, and it was with quavering 
voice that Commander Peary gave the order 
to break camp. Already the strain of the 
hard up ward- journey was beginning to tell, 
and after the first two marches back, he was 
practically a dead weight, but do not think 
that we could have gotten back without him, 
for it was due to the fact that he was with 
us, and that we could depend upon him to di- 
rect and order us, that we were able to keep 
up the break-neck pace that enabled us to 
cover three of our upward marches on one of 
our return marches, and we never forgot that 
he was still the heart and head of the party. 

It was broad daylight and getting brighter, 
and accordingly I knew little fear, though I 

140 



BACK TO LAND 

did think of the ghosts of other parties, flit- 
ting in spectral form over the ice-clad wastes, 
especially of that small detachment of the 
Italian expedition of the Duke D'Abruzzi, of 
which to this day neither track, trace, nor 
remembrance has ever been found. We 
crossed lead after lead, sometimes like a bare- 
back rider in the circus, balancing on cake 
after cake of ice, but good fortune was with 
us all of the way, and it was not until the 
land of recognizable character had been lifted 
that we lost the trail, and with the land in 
sight as an incentive, it was no trouble for us 
to gain the talus of the shore ice and find 
the trail again. 

When we "hit the beach for fair" it was 
early in the morning of April 23, 1909, nearly 
seventeen days since we had left the Pole, 
but such a seventeen days of haste, toil, and 
misery as cannot be comprehended by the 
mind. We who experienced it, Commander 
Peary, the Esquimos, and myself, look back 
to it as to a horrid nightmare, and to describe 
it is impossible for me. 

Commander Peary had taken the North 
Pole by conquest, in the face of almost in- 

141 



BACK TO LAND 

superable natural difficulties, by the tremen- 
dous fighting-power of himself. The winning 
of the North Pole was a fight with nature; 
the way to the Pole that had been covered and 
retraced by Commander Peary lay across the 
ever moving and drifting ice of the Arctic 
Ocean. For more than a hundred miles from 
Cape Columbia it was piled in heavy pressure 
ridges, ridge after ridge, some more than a 
hundred feet in height. In addition, open 
lanes of water held the parties back until the 
leads froze up again, and continually the 
steady drift of the ice carried us back on the 
course we had come, but due to his deathless 
ambition to know and to do, he had conquered. 
He had added to the sum of Earth's knowl- 
edge, and proven that the mind of man is 
boundless in its desire. 

The long quest for the North Pole is over 
and the awful space that separated man from 
the Ultima Thule has been bridged. There is 
no more beyond ; from Cape Columbia to Cape 
Chelyuskin, the route northward to the Pole, 
and southward again to the plains of Asia, is 
an open book and the geographical mind is at 
rest. 

142 



BACK TO LAND 

We found the abandoned igloos of Crane 
City and realized that Captain Bartlett had 
reached the land safely. The damage due to 
the action of the storms was not material. We 
made the necessary repairs, and in a few min- 
utes tea was boiled and rations eaten, and we 
turned in for sleep. For practically all of 
the two days following, that was what we did: 
sleep and eat; men and dogs thoroughly ex- 
hausted; and we slept the sleep of the just, 
without apprehensions or misgivings. Our 
toboggan from the Pole was ended. 

Different from all other trips, we had not 
on this one been maddened by the pangs of 
hunger, but instead we felt the effects of lack 
of sleep, and brain- and body-fatigue. After 
reaching the land again, I gave a keen search- 
ing look at each member of the party, and I 
realized the strain they had been under. In- 
stead of the plump, round countenances I 
knew so well, I saw lean, gaunt faces, seamed 
and wrinkled, the faces of old men, not those 
of boys, but in their eyes still shone the spark 
of resolute determination. 

Commander Peary's face was lined and 

143 



BACK TO LAND 

seamed, his beard was fully an inch in length, 
and his mustaches, which had been closely 
cropped before he left the ship, had again at- 
tained their full flowing length. His fea- 
tures expressed fatigue, but the heart-break- 
ing look of sadness, that had clung to him 
since the failure of the 1906 expedition, had 
vanished. From liis steel-gray eyes flashed 
forth the light of glorious victory, and though 
he always carried himself proudly, there had 
come about him an air of erect assurance that 
was exhilarating. 

When I reached the ship again and gazed 
into my Mttle mirror, it was the pinched and 
wrinkled visage of an old man that peered out 
at me, but the eyes still twinkled and life was 
still entrancing. Tiiis \\dzening of our fea- 
tures was due to the strain of travel and lack 
of sleep; we had enough to eat, and I have 
only mentioned it to help impress the fact that 
the journey to the Pole and back is not to be 
regarded as a pleasure outing, and our so- 
called jaunt was by no means a cake-walk. 



144 



i 



CHAPTER XVII 

SAFE ON THE ROOSEVELT POOR MARVIN 

IF you will remember, the journey from 
"*■ Cape Sheridan to Cape Columbia was with 
overloaded sledges in the darkness preceding 
the dawn of the Arctic day, mostly over rough 
going and up-liill, and now the tables were 
turned. It w^as broad day and down-hill with 
lightened sledges, so that we practically 
coasted the last miles from the twin peaks of 
Columbia to the low, slanting fore-shore of 
Sheridan and the Roosevelt, After the forty 
hours' rest at Cape Columbia, Commander 
Peary had liis sledges loaded up, and with 
Egingwah and the best of the remaining dogs, 
he got away. 

I was told I could remain at the camp for 
another twelve hours. A large and substan- 
tial cache of supplies had been dropped at 
Cape Columbia by various members of the 
expedition and when the Commander was 

145 



ON THE ROOSEVELT 

gone, I gave the boys full permission to turn 
in and eat all they wanted, and I also gave the 
dogs all they could stuff, and it was not until 
all of us had gorged ourselves to repletion that 
I gave the order to vamoose. We were loaded 
to capacity, outward and inward, and we saw 
a bountiful supply still lying there, but we 
could not pack another ounce. It was early 
in the morning of April 25 when Peary 
started for the ship; it was about four or five 
hours later, about noon, when I gave the word, 
and Ootah, Seegloo, Ooqueah, and myself left 
Crane City, Cape Columbia, Grant Land, for 
the last time. 

We overtook the Commander at Point Moss, 
and we traveled with him to Cape Colan, where 
we camped. Peary continued on to Sail Har- 
bor, and we stayed in our comfortable camp 
and rested. We again caught up with the 
Commander at Porter Bay, where we camped 
for a few hours. The following morning I 
rearranged the sledges and left two of them 
at Porter Bay. It was my intention to reach 
the ship on this evening. We made a short 
stop at Black Cliff Bay and had lunch, and 
without further interruption we traveled on 

146 



ON THE ROOSEVELT 

and at about eight-forty-five p. m. we sighted 
the Roosevelt. 

The sighting of the ship was our first view 
of home, and far away as she was, our acutely 
developed senses of smell were regaled with 
the appetizing odor of hot coiFee, and the 
pungent aroma of tobacco-smoke, wafted to 
us through the clear, germ-free air. The Es- 
quimo boys, usually excited on the shghtest 
provocation, were surprisingly stohd and 
merely remarked, "Oomiaksoah" (''The ship") 
in quiet voices, until I, unable to control my- 
self, burst forth with a loud "hip! hip! hur- 
rah!" and with all that was left of my energy 
hurried my sledge in to the ship. We had 
been sighted almost as quickly as we had 
sighted the ship, and a party of the ship's 
crew came running out to meet us, and as we 
rushed on we were told about the safe arrival 
of Commander Peary, Bartlett, Borup, Mac- 
Millan, and Dr. Goodsell. Transported with 
elation and overjoyed to find myself once more 
safe among friends, I had rushed onward and 
as I recognized the different faces of the ship's 
company, I did not realize that some were 
missing. 

147 



ON THE ROOSEVELT 

Chief Wardwell was the first man to greet 
me, he photographed me as I was closing in 
on the ship, and with his strong right arm 
pulled me up over the side and hugged me to 
his bosom. "Good boy, Matt," he said; "too 
bad about Marvin," and then I knew that all 
was wrong and that it was not the time for 
rejoicing. I asked for Peary and I was told 
that he was all right. I saw Captain Bartlett 
and I knew that he was there; but where was 
Borup, where were MacMillan, Marvin, and 
where was Dr. Goodsell? Dr. Goodsell was 
right by my side, holding me up, and I reaUzed 
that it was of him I was demanding to know 
of the others. 

Reason had not left me, the bonds of sanity 
had not snapped, but for the time I was hys- 
terical, and I only knew that all were well 
and safe excepting Marvin, who was drowned. 
A big mug of coiFee was given to me, I drank 
a spoonful; a glass of spirits was handed me, 
I drank it all, and I was guided to my cabin, 
my fur clothes were taken off, and for the 
first time in sixty-eight days, I allowed myself 
to relax and I fell into a sleep. 

When I awoke, I had the grandest feast im- 

148 



ON THE ROOSEVELT 

aginable set before me, and after eating, I had 
the most luxurious bath possible, and then 
some more to eat, and afterwards, some more 
sleep; then I shaved myself, combed my hair, 
and came out of my cabin and crossed over to 
the galley, and sat on a box and watched 
Charley at work. Then I thought of the dogs 
and went outside and found that they had 
been cared for. I wondered when the Com- 
mander would want to see me. All of the 
time the sailors and Charley and the Esquimo 
folks were keeping up a running fire of con- 
versation, and I was able to gather from what 
they said that my dear, good friend. Professor 
Marvin, was indeed lost; that Peary had 
reached the Roosevelt about seven hours ahead 
of me; that Captain Bartlett w^as suffering 
with swollen legs and feet; that MacjSIillan 
and Borup Svith their own and Marvin's boys 
had gone to Cape Jesup; and that Pooad- 
loonah and Panikpah had taken their families 
and returned to Esquimo land. 

For days after I reached the Roosevelt, I 
did nothing but rest and eat. The strain was 
over and I had all but collapsed, but with con- 
stant eating and sleeping, I was quickly my- 

149 



ON THE ROOSEVELT 

self again. The pains and swellings of my 
limbs did not come as they had on all of the 
other returnings, and neither was Peary trou- 
bled. Captain Bartlett was the only one of 
the expedition that had been out on the sea-ice 
who felt any after effects. Every day, a few 
minutes after rising, he would notice that his 
ankle- knee- and hip- joints were swollen; and 
while the pain was not excessive, he was in- 
capacitated for more than ten days, and he 
spent the most of his time in his cabin. When 
he came out of his cabin and did talk to me, it 
was only to compare notes and agree that our 
experiences proved that there was absolutely 
no question about our having discovered the 
Pole. 

Captain Bartlett, Dr. Goodsell, Chief 
Wardwell, Percy — ^they could talk as they 
would ; but the one ever-present thought in my 
mind was of Marvin, and of his death, I 
thought of him, and of his kindness to me ; and 
the picture of his widowed mother, patiently 
waiting the return of her son, was before me 
all of the time. I thought of my own mother, 
whom I scarcely remembered, and I sincerely 

150 



ON THE ROOSEVELT 

wished that it had been me who had been taken. 
When MacMillan and Borup returned, I 
learned all about the sad affair, from Kudlook- 
too and Harrigan, and I feel that had he been 
with civilized companions the sad story of 
Marvin's death would not have to be told. 

On breaking camp he had gone on, leaving 
the boys to load up and follow him. They 
were going south to the land and the ship, and 
there was no need for him to stay with them, 
and when they came up to where he had dis- 
appeared, they saw the ice newly formed about 
him, his head and feet beneath, and nothing 
showing but the fur clothing of his back and 
shoulders. They made no effort to rescue 
him, and had they succeeded in getting his 
body out, there is little chance that they could 
have kept him alive, for the temperature was 
far below zero, and they knew nothing about 
restoring hfe to the drowned. No blame can 
be laid to his childish companions. 

He died alone, and he passed into the great 
unknown alone, bravely and honorably. He 
is the last of Earth's great martyrs; he is 
home ; his work is done ; he is where he longed 
to be; the Sailor is Home in the Sea. It is 

151 



ON THE ROOSEVELT 

poor satisfaction to those that he left behind 
that his grave is the northern-most grave on 
the earth; but they reahze that the sacrifice 
was not made in vain, for it was due to him 
that those who followed were able to keep the 
trail and reach the land again. The foolish 
boys, in accordance with Esquimo tradition, 
had unloaded all of Prof. Marvin's personal 
effects on the ice, so that his spirit should not 
follow them, and they hurried on back to land 
and to the ship, where they told their sad story. 



152 



CHAPTER XVIII 

AETER MUSK-OXEN THE DOCTOR's SCIENTIFIC 

EXPEDITION 

FROM the time of my arrival at the Roose- 
velt ,, for nearly three weeks, my days were 
spent in complete idleness. I would catch a 
fleeting glimpse of Commander Peary, but not 
once in all of that time did he speak a word to 
me. Then he spoke to me in the most ordi- 
nary, matter-of-fact way, and ordered me to 
get to work. Not a word about the North 
Pole or anything connected with it; simply, 
"There is enough wood left, and I would like 
to have you make a couple of sledges and mend 
the broken ones. I hope you are feeling all 
right." There was enough wood left and I 
made three sledges, as well as repaired those 
that were broken. 

The Commander was still running things 
and he remained the commander to the last 
minute; nothing escaped him, and when the 

153 



MUSK-OXEN 

time came to slow-down on provisions, he gave 
the orders, and we had but two spare meals a 
day to sustain us. The whole expedition lived 
on travel rations from before the time we left 
Cape Sheridan until we had reached Sidney, 
N. S., and like the keen-fanged hounds, we 
were always ready and fit. 

It was late in May when Prof. MacMillan 
and Mr. Borup, with their Esquimo compan- 
ions, returned from Cape Jesup, where they 
had been doing highly important scientific 
work, taking soundings out on the sea-ice 
north of the cape as high as 84° 15' north, 
and also at the cape. They had made a trip 
that was record-breaking; they had visited the 
different cairns made by Lockwood and Brain- 
ard and by Commander Peary, and they had 
also captured and brought into the ship a 
musk-ox calf ; and they had most satisfactorily 
demonstrated their fitness as Arctic explorers, 
having followed the Commander's orders im- 
plicitly, and secured more than the required 
number of tidal-readings and soundings. 

Prof. MacMillan, with Jack Barnes, a 
sailor, and Kudlooktoo, left for Fort Conger 
early in June, and continued the work of tidal- 

154 



MUSK-OXEN 

observations. They rejoined the Roosevelt 
just before she left Cape Sheridan. A httle 
later in the month, Borup went to Clements 
Markham Inlet to hunt musk-oxen, and from 
there he went to Cape Columbia, where he 
erected the cairn containing the record of the 
last and successful expedition of the "Peary 
Arctic Club." The cairn was a substantial 
pile of rocks, surmounted by a strong oaken 
guide-post, with arms pointing "North 413 
miles to the Pole"; "East, to Cape Morris K. 
Jesup, 275 miles"; "West to Cape Thomas H. 
Hubbard, 225 miles"; while the southern arm 
pointed south, but to no particular geograph- 
ical spot; it was labeled "Cape Columbia." 
Underneath the arms of the guide-post, which 
had been made by Mate Gushue, was a small, 
glass-covered, box-like arrangement, in which 
was encased the record of Peary's successful 
journey to the Pole, and the roster of the ex- 
pedition, my name included. From the cross- 
bars, guys of galvanized wire were stretched 
and secured to heavy rocks, to help sustain the 
monument from the fury of the storms. 
Borup did good work, photographed the 
result, and the picture of the cairn, when ex- 

155 



MUSK-OXEN 

hibited, proved very satisfactory to the Com- 
mander. 

Dr. Goodsell with two teams, and the Es- 
quimo men, Keshungwah and Tawchingwah, 
left the ship on May 27, to hunt in the Lake 
Hazen and Ruggles River regions. They 
were successful in securing thirteen musk-oxen 
in that neighborhood, and in Bellows Valley 
they shot a number of the "Peary" caribou, the 
species ''Rangifer Pearyif' a distinct class of 
reindeer inhabiting that region. 

On the return of Dr. Goodsell, he told of 
his fascinating experiences in that wonderland. 
Leaving the Roosevelt, he had turned inland 
at Black Cliif Bay. Past the glaciers he went 
with his little party, down the Bellows Valley 
to the Buggies River, an actual stream of 
clear-running water, alive with the finest of 
salmon trout. Adopting the Esquimo meth- 
ods, he fished for these speckled beauties with 
joyful success. Here he rounded up and shot 
the herd of musk-oxen, and here he bagged his 
caribou. He was in a hunter's paradise and 
made no haste to return, but crossed overland 
to Discovery Harbor and the barn-like struc- 
ture of Fort Conger, the headquarters of 

156 



MUSK-OXEN 

General Greely's "Lady Franklin Bay Ex- 
pedition" of 1882-1883, Professor Mac- 
Millan was on his way to Fort Conger and it 
was with much surprise, on arriving there, 
that he found that Dr. Goodsell had reached 
it an hour before him. It was an unexpected 
meeting and quite a pleasure to the Professor 
to find the Doctor there, ready to offer him 
the hospitality of the fort. 

Dr. Goodsell returned to the Roosevelt on 
June 15, with a load of geological, zoological, 
and botanical specimens almost as heavy as 
the loads of meat and skins he brought in. 
He was an ardent scientist, and viewed nearly 
every situation and object from the view-point 
of the scientist. Nothing escaped him; a pe- 
cuhar form of rock or plant, the different 
features of the animal life, all received his close 
and eager attention, and he had the faculty of 
imparting his knowledge to others, like the 
born teacher that he was. He evinced an 
eager interest in the Esquimos and got along 
famously with them. 

His physical equipment was the finest; a 
giant in stature and strength, but withal the 
gentlest of men having an even, mellow dis- 

157 



MUSK-OXEN 

position that never was ruffled. In the field 
the previous spring he had accompanied the 
expedition beyond the "Big Lead" to 84° 29', 
and with the strength of his broad shoulders 
he had pickaxed the way. 

On account of his calm, quiet manner I had 
hesitated to form an opinion of him at first, 
but you can rest assured this was a "Tender- 
foot" who made good. 

During this time I left the ship on short 
hunting trips, but I was never away from the 
ship for more than ten or twelve hours. 

On July 1 quite a lead was opened in the 
channel south from Cape Sheridan to Cape 
Rawson. The ice was slowly moving south- 
ward, and the prospects for freeing the Roose- 
velt and getting her started on her homeward 
way were commencing to brighten. The fol- 
lowing day a new lead opened much nearer 
shore, and on July 3 the Esquimos, who had 
been out hunting, returned from Black CliiF 
Bay, without game, but with the good news 
that as far south as Dumb Bell Bay there 
stretched a lead of open water. July 4, a new 
lead opened very close to the Roosevelt, The 

158 



MUSK-OXEN 

spring tides, with a strong southerly wind, had 
set in so very much earher, three years before, 
that on July 4, 1906, the Roosevelt had been 
entirely free of ice, with clear, open water for 
quite a distance to the south; but this year the 
ship was still completely packed in the ice, and 
furthermore she was listed at the same angle 
as during the winter. 

On July 5, I was detailed to help Gushue 
repair the more or less damaged whale-boats. 
The heavy and sohdly packed snow of the 
winter had stove them in. On July 6, the an- 
niversary of our departure from New York a 
year before, the greater part of the day was 
spent in pumping water from the top of a 
heavy floeberg into the ship's boilers. This 
work was not completed until the morning of 
the 7th, when the fires were started. Due to 
the cold, the process of getting up steam was 
slow work. The ice had been breaking up 
daily, new leads were noticed, and on this day, 
July 7, a new lead opened at a distance of fifty 
yards from the ship, and open water stretched 
as far south as the eye could see. All hands 
were put to work reloading the supplies that 
had been placed on shore the fall previous, for 

159 



MUSK-OXEN 

it was easy to see that the time for departure 
was at hand. 

With the boilers in order, an attempt was 
made to revolve the shaft, but the propeller 
was too securely frozen in the ice to move, and 
so Captain Bartlett got out the dynamite and 
succeeded in freeing the bronze blades. 

From the 10th of July to the 13th, a fierce 
storm raged, clouds of freeing spray broke 
over the ship, incasing her in a coat of icy mail, 
and the tempest forced all of the ice out of the 
lower end of the channel and beyond as far as 
the eye could see, but the Roosevelt still re- 
mained surrounded hy ice. 

The morning of the 15th, a smart breeze 
from the northeast was blowing, and proved of 
valuable assistance to us, for it caused the huge 
blocks of ice that were surrounding the ship to 
loosen their hold, and for the first time since 
October, 1908, the Roosevelt righted herself to 
an even keel. 

By this time all of our supplies had been 
loaded and stored, and from the crow's-nest a 
stretch of open water could be seen as far as 
Cape Rawson. From there to Cape Union 
the ice was packed solid. 

160 



CHAPTER XIX 

THE ROOSEVELT STARTS FOR HOME — ^ESQUIMO 
VILLAGES NEW DOGS AND NEW DOG FIGHTS 

T T was two-thirty p. m., July IT, 1909, that 
^ the Roosevelt pointed her bow southward 
and we left our winter quarters and Cape 
Sheridan. We were on our journey home, all 
hands as happy as when, a year previous, we 
had started on our way north, with the added 
satisfaction of complete success. The ship 
had steamed but a short distance, when, owing 
to the rapidly drifting ice in the channel, she 
had to be made fast to a floeberg. At ten- 
thirty p. M., the lines were loosed and a new 
start made. Without further incident, we 
reached Black Cape. 

In rounding the cape the ship encountered a 
terrific storm, and it was with the greatest diffi- 
culty that she made any headway. The storm 
increased and the Roosevelt had to remain in 
the channel, surrounded by the tightly wedged 

161 



THE START FOR HOME 

floes, at the mercy of the wind* The gale 
continued until the evening of the 20th. The 
constant surging back and forth of the chan- 
nel-pack, with the spring tides and the several 
huge masses of ice, which repeatedly crashed 
against the ship's sides, caused a delay of 
twelve days in Robeson Channel opposite Lin- 
coln Bay. Throughout the width of the entire 
channel nothing could be seen but small pools 
of open water; two seals were seen sporting 
in one of these pools, and one of the Esquimos 
attempted to kill them, but his aim proved 
false. 

It was not until the 25th that the ship was 
able to move of her own free will, small leads 
having opened in close proximity to her. 
Ootah shot a seal in one of the leads, and also 
harpooned a narwhal, but he did not succeed 
in securing either. His brother Egingwah on 
the following day shot two seals and harpooned 
a narwhal, and he secured all three of his prizes. 
The Esquimos had a grand feast off the skin 
of the narwhal, which they esteem as a great 
delicacy. 

By the 27th the Roosevelt had drifted as far 
south as Wrangell Bay, and it was here that 

162 



THE START FOR HOME 

Slocum (Inighito) shot and secured a hood- 
seal, which weighed over six hundred pounds, 
and seal-steaks were added to the bill-of-fare. 

The snow storms of the two days ceased on 
the 28th, and when the weather cleared suffi- 
ciently for us to ascertain our whereabouts, we 
were much surprised to find that we had drifted 
back north, opposite Lincoln Bay. During 
the day the wind shifted to the north. Again 
we drifted southward, until, just off Cape 
Beechey, the narrowest part of Robeson Chan- 
nel, a lead stretching southward for a distance 
of five miles was sighted, and into this open 
water the ship steamed until the lead ter- 
minated in Kennedy Channel, opposite Lady 
Franklin Bay, where the Roosevelt was ice- 
bound until August 4, drifting with the pack 
until we were in a direct line with Cape Tyson 
and Bellot Isle. Three seals were captured, 
one a hood-seal weighing 624 pounds, being 
eight feet eleven inches in length; the other 
two were small ring-seals. 

By ten a. m. of the 4th, the ice had slack- 
ened so considerably that the Roosevelt, under 
full steam, set out and rapidly worked her 
way down Kennedy Channel. From Crozier 

163 



THE START FOR HOME 

Island to Cape D'Urville she steamed through 
practically open water, but a dense fog com- 
pelled us to make fast to a large floe when al- 
most opposite Cape Albert. It was not until 
one A. M. of the 7th, despite several attempts, 
that the ship got clear and steamed south 
again. Several small leads were noticed and 
numerous narwhals were seen, but none were 
captured. 

At three-thirty a. m., when nearing Cape 
Sabine, we observed that the barometer had 
dropped to 29.73. A storm was coming, and 
every effort was made to reach Payer Harbor, 
but before half of the distance had been cov- 
ered, the storm broke with terrific violence. 
The force of the gale was such that, while 
swinging the boats inboard, we were drenched 
and thoroughly cliilled by the sheets of icy 
spray, which saturated us and instantly froze. 
The Roosevelt was blown over to starboard 
until the rails were submerged. To save her, 
she was steered into Buchanan Bay, under the 
lee of the cliffs, where she remained until the 
morning of August 8. 

At an early hour, we steamed down Bu- 
chanan Bay, passed Cocked Hat Island, and 

164 



THE STAUT FOK HOME 

a little later, Cape Sabine. At Cape Sabine 
was located Camp Clay, the starvation camp 
of the Lady Franklin Bay expedition of 
1881-1883, where the five survivors of the 
twenty-three members of the expedition were 
rescued. 

We entered Smith Sound. Instead of sail- 
ing on to Etah, Peary ordered the ship into 
Whale Sound, in order that walrus-hunting 
could be done, so that the Esquimos should 
have a plentiful supply of meat for the follow- 
ing winter. Three walrus were captured, 
when a storm sprang up with all of the sudden- 
ness of storms in this neighborhood, and the 
ship crossed over from Cape Alexander to 
Cape Chalon. Cape Chalon is a favorite re- 
sort of the Esquimos, and is known as Peter- 
ar-wick, on account of the walrus that are to 
be found here during the months of February 
and March. 

At Nerke, just below Cape Chalon, we 
found the three Esquimo families of Ahsayoo, 
Tungwingwah, and Teddylingwah, and it was 
from these people we first learned of Dr. 
Cook's safe return from Ellesmere Land. In 
spite of the fact that the Roosevelt was over- 

165 



THE START FOR HOME 

loaded with dogs, paraphernalia, and Esqui- 
mos, these three families were taken aboard. 

With them were several teams of dogs. 
The dogs aboard ship were the survivors of the 
pack that had been with us all through the 
campaign, and a number of litters of puppies 
that had been whelped since the spring season. 
Our dogs were well acquainted with each other 
and dog fights were infrequent and of little 
interest, but the arrival of the first dog of the 
new party was the signal for the grandest dog 
fight I have ever witnessed. I feel justified in 
using the language of the fairy Ariel, in 
Shakespeare's "Tempest": "Now is Hell 
empty, and all the devils are here." 

Backward and forward, the foredeck of the 
ship was a howling, snarling, biting, yelping, 
moving mass of fury, and it was a long round 
of fully ten or fifteen minutes before the two 
king dogs of the packs got together, and then 
began the battle for supremacy of the pack. 
It lasted for some time. It would have been 
useless to separate them. They would decide 
sooner or later, and it was better to have it 
over, even if one or both contestants w^ere 
killed. At length the fight was ended ; our old 

166 



THE START FOR HOME 

king dog, Nalegaksoah, the champion of the 
pack, and the laziest dog in it, was still the 
king. After vanquishing his opponent and 
receiving humble acknowledgments, King 
Nalegaksoah went stamping up and down be- 
fore the pack and received the homage due 
him; the new dogs, whining and fawning and 
cringingly submissive, bowed down before 
him. 

The chief pleasure of the Esquimo dogs is 
fighting; two dogs, the best of friends, will 
hair-pull and bite each other for no cause 
whatever, and strange dogs fight at sight; 
team-mates fight each other on the slightest 
of provocations ; and it seems as though some- 
times the fights are held for the purpose of 
educating the young. When a fight is in 
progress, it is the usual sight to see several 
mother dogs, with their litters, occupying 
ring-side seats. I have often wondered what 
chance a cat would stand against an Esquimo 
dog. 

The ship kejjt on, and I had turned in and 
slept, and on arising had found that we had 
reached a place called Igluduhomidy, where 
a single family was located. Living with this 

16T 



THE START FOR HOME 

family was a very old Esquimo, Merktoshah, 
the oldest man in the whole tribe, and not a 
blood-relation to any member of it. He had 
crossed over from the west coast of Smith 
Sound the same year that Hall's expedition 
had wintered there, and has lived there ever 
since. He had been a champion polar bear 
and big game hunter, and though now a very 
old man, was still vigorous and valiant, in spite 
of the loss of one eye. 

We stopped at Kookan, the most prosper- 
ous of the Esquimo settlements, a village of 
B.Ye tupiks (skin tents), housing twenty-four 
people, and from there we sailed to the ideal 
community of Karnah. Karnah is the most 
delightful spot on the Greenland coast. Sit- 
uated on a gently southward sloping knoll 
are the igloos and tupiks, where I have spent 
many pleasant days with my Esquimo friends 
and learned much of the folk-lore and history. 
Lofty mountains, sublime in their grandeur, 
overtower and surround this place, and its 
only exposure is southward toward the sun. 
In winter its climate is not severe, as com- 
pared with other portions of this country, 
and in the perpetual daylight of summer, life 

168 



THE START FOR HOME 

here is ideal. Rivulets of clear, cold water, 
the beds of which are grass- and flower- 
covered, run down the sides of the mountains 
and, but for the lack of trees, the landscape 
is as delightful as anywhere on earth. 



169 



CHAPTER XX 

TWO NARROW ESCAPES — ^ARRIVAL AT ETAH — 
HARRY WHITNEY — ^DR. COOK's CLAIMS 

CROM Karnah the Roosevelt sailed to 
^ Itiblu, where hunting-parties secured 
thirty-one walrus and one seal. By the 11th 
of August we had reached the northern shore 
of Northumberland Island, where we were 
delayed by storm. It was shortly before 
noon of this day that we barely escaped an- 
other fatal calamity. 

Chief War dwell, while cleaning the rifle of 
Commander Peary, had the misfortune to 
have the piece explode while in his hands. 
From some unknown cause a cartridge was 
discharged, the projectile pierced two thick 
partitions of ineh-and-a-half pine, and pene- 
trated the cabin occupied by Professor Mac- 
Millan and Mr. Borup. The billet of that 
bullet was the shoulder and forearm of Pro- 
fessor MacMillan, who at the time was sound 

170 



A NARROW ESCAPE 

asleep in his berth. He had been lying with 
his arm doubled and his head resting on his 
hand. A half inch nearer and the bullet 
would have entered his brain. 

As is always the case with narrow escapes, 
I, too, had a narrow escape, for that same 
bullet entered the partition on its death-deal- 
ing mission at identically the same spot where 
a few minutes previously my head had rested. 
Dr. Goodsell was quickly aroused, he at- 
tended Professor MacMillan, and in a short 
time he diagnosed the case as a "gun-shot 
wound." Finding no bones broken, or veins 
or arteries open, he soon had the Professor 
bandaged and comfortable. 

At the time of the accident to Professor 
MacMillan the ship was riding at anchor, but 
with insufficient slack-way, so in the after- 
noon, when the excitement had somewhat 
abated, Captain Bob decided to give the ship 
more chain, for a storm was imminent, and 
he gave the order accordingly. The boat- 
swain, in his haste to execute the order, and 
overestimating the amount of chain in the 
locker, permitted all of it to run overboard. 
We were in a predicament, with the storm 

171 



A NARROW ESCAPE 

upon us, no anchor to hold the boat, and a 
savage, rocky shore on which we were in 
danger of being wrecked. There was a small 
iive-hundred-pound anchor with a nine-inch 
cable of about one hundred and fifty fathoms 
remaining, which was repeatedly tried, but 
the ship was too much for this feather-weight 
anchor, and dragged it at will. Commander 
Peary, with his usual foresight, had ordered 
steam as soon as the approach of the storm 
was noticed, and now that the steam was up, 
he ordered that the ship be kept head-on, and 
steam up and down the coast until the storm 
abated. The storm lasted until the night of 
August 13, and the best part of the following 
day was spent by two boat-crews of twelve 
men, in grappling for the lost anchor and 
chain, and not until they had secured it and 
restored it once more to its locker were they 
permitted to rest. With the anchor secure, 
walrus-hunting commenced afresh, and on the 
ice-floes between Hakluyt and Northumber- 
land Islands thirty more walrus were secured. 
On August 16, the Roosevelt steamed back 
to Karnah, and the Esquimo people who in- 
tended living there for the following winter 

172 



AT ETAH 

were landed. A very large supply of meat 
was landed also; in addition to the meat quite 
a number of useful presents, hatchets, knives, 
needles, some boards for the making and re- 
pairing of sledges, and some wood for lance- 
and harpoon-staves, and a box full of soap were 
landed. This inventory of presents may seem 
cheap and paltry to you, but to these natives 
such presents as we made were more appreci- 
ated than the gift of many dollars would be 
by a poverty-stricken family in this country. 
With the materials that Commander Peary 
furnished would be made the weapons of the 
chase, the tools of the seamstress, and the im- 
plements of the home-maker. The Es- 
quimos have always known how to utilize 
every factor furnished by nature, and what 
has been given to them by the Commander 
has been given with the simple idea of help- 
ing them to make their life easier, and proves 
again the axiom, "The Lord helps those who 
help themselves." 

After disembarking the Karnah contingent, 
the ship steamed to Etah, arriving there on 
the afternoon of August 17. As the Roose- 
velt was entering the harbor of Etah, all 

173 



AT ETAH \ 

hands were on deck and on the lookout, for it ! 
was here that we were again to come in touch j 
with the world we had left behind a year be- : 
fore. A large number of Esquimos were ; 
running up and down the shore, but there was ] 
no sign of the expected ship. Quickly a | 
boat was lowered, and I saw to it that I was j 
a member of the crew of that boat, and when ; 
we reached the beach the first person to greet \ 
me was old Panikpah, greasy, smiling, and I 
happy as if I were his own son. I quickly \ 
recognized my old friend Pooadloonah, who | 
greeted me with a merry laugh, and my mis- ; 
givings as to the fate of this precious pair 
were dispelled. If you will remember, .\ 
Panikpah and Pooadloonah were the two \ 
Esquimos who found, when on our Poleward \ 
journey, just about the time we had struck j 
the "Big Lead," that there were a couple of j 
fox-traps, or something like that, that they 
had forgotten to attend to, and that it was 
extremely necessary for them to go back and 
square up their accounts. Here they were, 
fat, smiKng, and healthy; and I apprehend 
somewhat surprised to see us, but they bluffed 
it out well. 

174 



AT ETAH 

Murphy and the young man Pritchard 
were also here. Murphy and Pritchard were 
the members of the crew who had been left 
here to guard the provisions of the expedi- 
tion, and to trade with the Esquimos. An- 
other person also was there to greet us; but 
who had kept himself ahve and well by his 
own pluck and clear grit, and who reported 
on meeting the Commander of having had a 
most satisfactory and enjoyable experience. 
I refer to Mr. Harry Whitney, the young 
man from New Haven, Conn., who had 
elected at the last hour, the previous autumn, 
to remain at Etah, to hunt the big game of 
the region. When the Roosevelt had sailed 
north from Etah, the previous August, he 
had been left absolutely alone; the Erik had 
sailed for home, and there was no way out of 
this desolate land for him until the relief ship 
came north the following year, or the Roose- 
velt came south to take him aboard. His 
outfit and equipment were sufficient for him 
and complete, but he had shared it with the 
natives until it was exhausted, and after that 
he had reverted to the life of the aborigines. 
Wlien the Roosevelt reached Etah, Mr. 

175 



DR. COOK 

Whitney was an Esquimo; but within one 
hour, he had a bath, a shave, and a hair-cut, 
and was the same mild-mannered gentleman 
that we had left there in the fall. He had 
gratified his ambitions in shooting musk- 
oxen, but he had not killed a single polar 
bear. 

At Etah there were two boys, Etookahshoo 
and Ahpellah, boys about sixteen or seven- 
teen years old, who had been with Dr. Cook 
for a year, or ever since he had crossed the 
channel to EUesmere Land and returned 
again. These boys are the two he claims ac- 
companied him to the North Pole. To us, 
up there at Etah, such a story was so ridic- 
ulous and absurd that we simply laughed at 
it. We knew Dr. Cook and his abilities; he 
had been the surgeon on two of Peary's ex- 
peditions and, aside from his medical ability, 
we had no faith in him whatever. He was 
not even good for a day's work, and the idea 
of his making such an astounding claim as 
having reached the Pole was so ludicrous that, 
after our laugh, we dropped the matter 
altogether. 

On account of the world-wide controversy 

176 



DR. COOK 

his story has caused, I will quote from my 
diary the impressions noted in regard to him: 

"August 17, 1909, Etah, North Greenland. 

"Mr. Harry Whitney came aboard with 
the boatsw^ain and the cabin-boy, who had 
been left here last fall on our way to Cape 
Sheridan. Murphy is the boatswain and 
Pritchard the boy, both from Newfoundland, 
and they look none the worse for wear, in 
spite of the long time they have spent here. 
Mr. Whitney is the gentleman who came up 
on the Erik last year, and at the last moment 
decided to spend the winter with the natives. 
He had a long talk with the Commander be- 
fore we left for the north, and has had quite 
a lengthy session with him since. I learn that 
Dr. Cook came over from Ellesmere Land 
with his two boys, Etookahshoo and Ahpellah, 
and in a confidential conversation with Mr. 
Whitney made the statement that he had 
reached the North Pole. Professor MacMil- 
lan and I have talked to his two boys and have 
learned that there is no foundation in fact for 
such a statement, and the Captain and others 
of the expedition have questioned them, and 
if they were out on the ice of the Arctic Ocean 

177 



DR. COOK 

it was only for a very short distance, not more 
than twenty or twenty-five miles. The boys 
are positive in this statement, and my own 
boys, Ootah and Ooqueah, have talked to 
them also, and get the same replies. It is a 
fact that they had a very hard time and were 
reduced to low limits, but they have not been 
any distance north, and the Commander and 
the rest of us are in the humor to regard Mr. 
Whitney as a person who has been hood- 
winked. We know Dr. Cook very well and 
also his reputation, and we know that he was 
never good for a hard day's work; in fact 
he was not up to the average, and he is no 
hand at all in making the most of his re- 
sources. He probably has spun this yarn to 
Mr. Whitney and the boatswain to make him- 
self look big to them. 

"The Commander will not permit Mr. 
Whitney to bring any of the Dr. Cook ef- 
fects aboard the Roosevelt and they have been 
left in a cache on shore. Koolootingwah is 
here again, after his trip to North Star Bay 
with Dr. Cook, and tells an amusing story 
of his experience." 



178 



DR. COOK 

It is only from a sense of justice to Com- 
mander Peary and those who were with him 
that I have mentioned Dr. Cook. The out- 
fitting of the hunting expedition of Mr. 
Bradley was well known to us. Captain Bart- 
lett had directed it and had advised and 
arranged for the purchase of the Schooner 
John R. Bradley to carry the hunting party 
to the region where big game of the char- 
acter Mr. Bradley wished to hunt could be 
found. We knew that Dr. Cook was ac- 
companying Mr. Bradley, but we had no idea 
that the question of the discovery of the 
North Pole was to be involved. 

I have reason to be grateful to Dr. Cook 
for favors received; I hved with his folks 
while I was suffering with my eyes, due to 
snow blindness, but I feel that all of the debts 
of gratitude have been liquidated by my 
silence in this controversy, and I will have 
nothing more to say in regard to him or to his 
claims. 



179 



CHAPTER XXI 

ETAH TO NEW YORK — COMING OF MAIL AND 
REPORTERS — HOME ! 

A T Etah we expected to meet the relief 
^~^ ship. Sixty tons of coal and a small 
quantity of provisions had been left there dur- 
ing the previous summer, to be used by us on 
our homeward voyage. This coal was loaded 
on board and the Esquimos who desired to 
remain at Etah were landed. Just at the 
time we were ready to sail a heavy storm of 
wind and snow blew up, and it was not until 
six P. M. on the 20th that we left the harbor. 
Farewells had been said to the Esquimos, all 
that had been promised them for faithful 
services had been given to them, and we com- 
menced the final stage of our journey home. 

From Etah, August 20, the ship sailed 
along the coast, landing Esquimos at the dif- 
ferent settlements, and on the 23rd of August 
at two A. M., we met the Schooner Jeanie, of 

180 



HOME! 

St. John, N. F., commanded by Samuel Bart- 
lett. The schooner was supplied with pro- 
visions and coal for the relief of the Roose- 
velt, and was executing the plan of the Peary 
Arctic Club. 

There was mail aboard her and we had our 
first tidings of home and friends in a twelve- 
month. From newspaper clippings I learned 
that the British Antarctic Expedition, com- 
manded by Sir Ernest H. Shackleton, had 
reached within 111 miles of the South Pole. 

The mail contained good news for all but 
one of us. Mr. Borup, in his bunk above the 
Professor's, read his letters, and in the course 
of his reading was heard to emit a deep sigh, 
then to utter an agonizing groan. Prof. 
MacMillan, thinking that Borup had received 
bad news indeed, endeavored to console him, 
and at the same time asked what was the bad 
news, feeling sure it could be nothing less 
than the death of Colonel Borup or some 
other close relative of his. 

"What is the matter, George? Tell me." 
"HARVARD BEAT YALE!" 
The Roosevelt, accompanied by her con- 
sort, sailed south to North Star Bay and while 

181 



HOME! 

entering the harbor ran ashore. Late in the 
afternoon, however, the rising tide floated her. 
While waiting for the tide, a party of six, I 
among the number, went ashore and visited 
the Danish Missionary settlement estabhshed 
there, the Esquimos acting as our interpreters, 
we being unable to speak Danish and the mis- 
sionaries being unable to speak English. It 
was in North Star Bay that the coal and pro- 
visions from the Jeanie were transferred to 
the Roosevelt, 

Aboard the Jeanie ^ there was a young Es- 
quimo man, Mene, who for the past twelve 
years had lived in New York City, but, over- 
come by a strong desire to live again in his own 
country, had been sent north by his friends 
in the States. He was almost destitute, hav- 
ing positively nothing in the way of an equip- 
ment to enable him to withstand the rigors of 
the country, and was no more fitted for the 
life he was to take up than any boy of eigh- 
teen or twenty would be, for he was but a 
little boy when he first left North Greenland. 
However, Commander Peary ordered that he 
be given a plentiful supply of furs to keep 
him warm, food, ammunition and loading 

182 



HOME! 

outfit, traps and guns, but, I believe, he would 
have gladly returned with us, for it was a 
wistful farewell he made, and an Esquimo's 
farewell is usually very barren of pathos. 

Mr. Whitney transferred his augmented 
equipment to the Jeanie^ intending to remain 
with her down the Labrador, for her Captain 
had agreed to use every effort to help Mr. 
Whitney secure at least one polar bear. 

Cape York was reached on the morning of 
August 25, and from the two Esquimo fam- 
ilies, hving at the extreme point of the Cape, 
we obtained the mail which had been left there 
by Captain Adams of the Dundee WhaUng 
Fleet Morning Star. Our letters, although 
they bore no more recent a date than that of 
March 23, 1909, were eagerly read. 

At Cape York we landed the last of the 
Esquimos. The decks were now cleared. 
The boats were securely lashed in their davits, 
and nine a, m., August 26, in a gale of wind, 
the Roosevelt put out to sea, homeward-bound, 
but not yet out of danger, for the gale in- 
creased so considerably that the Roosevelt 
was forced to lay to under reefed fore- 
sail, in the lee of the middle pack, until the 

183 



HOME! 

29th, when the storm subsided and the sliip 
got under way again. 

On September 4 the Labrador was sighted. 
Under full steam we passed the Farmyard, 
a group of small islands which lie oiF the 
coast. 

We arrived at Turnavik at seven-thirty 
p. M. Once again we saw signs of civiKzation. 
The men and women appeared in costumes 
of the Twentieth Century instead of the fur 
garments of the Esquimos. Here we loaded 
nineteen tons of coal. Here we feasted on 
fresh codfish, fresh vegetables, and other ap- 
petizing foods to which our palates had long 
been strangers. 

You know the rest, for from Turnavik to 
Indian Harbor was only a few hours' sailing. 

At Indian Harbor was located the wireless 
telegraph station from where Commander 
Peary flashed to the civilized world his laconic 
message, "Stars and Stripes nailed to the 
North Pole." 

Within half an hour of our arrival, the 
British cutter Fiona entered the harbor and 
the officers came aboard the Roosevelt, 
Thereafter for every hour there was contin- 

184 



HOME! 

uous excitement and reception of visitors. 

On September 13th the steamer Douglas 
H. Thomas, of Sydney, C. B., arrived, having 
on board two representatives of the Associ- 
ated Press, accompanied by Mr. Rood, a 
representative of Harper s Magazine. 

The next day the cable-boat Tyrian arrived, 
with seventeen newspaper reporters, five 
photographers, and one stenographer. The 
Tyrian anchored outside the harbor and in 
five hfe-boats the party was brought aboard 
the Roosevelt, As they rowed they cheered, 
and when they sighted Commander Peary 
three ringing cheers and a tiger were given. 
The newspaper men requested an interview 
with the Commander. He granted their re- 
quest, at the same time suggesting that they 
accompany him ashore to a fish-loft at the end 
of the pier, where there would be more room 
than aboard the ship. Accompanied by the 
members of the expedition, the Conmiander 
and the reporters left the ship. Arriving at 
the loft Commander Peary sat on some fish- 
nets at the rear end of the loft, some of the 
reporters sat on barrels and nets, others 
squatted on the floor. They formed a semi- 

185 



HOME! 

circle around him and eagerly listened to the 
first telling of his stirring story. 

Before leaving Battle Harbor, we received 
a visit from the great missionary, Dr. Gren- 
fell, the effect of whose presence was almost 
like a benediction. 

On the morning of the 18th we left Battle 
Harbor accompanied by the tug Douglas H. 
ThomaSj amidst the salutes of the many ves- 
sels and boats in the harbor and the cannon 
on the hill. 

Through the Straits of Belle Isle we 
steamed, with a fair wind and a choppy sea. 
In the meantime I was busily engaged in 
making a strip to sew upon a large American 
flag. This was a broad white bar which was 
to extend from the upper right to the lower left 
corner of the flag, with the words ''North Pole" 
sewed on it. 

About six A. M, on the 21st, a large white, 
steam-yacht was seen approaching, flying an 
American flag from her foremast and the 
English flag from the mizzenmast. We 
were close enough to her to distinguish Mrs. 
Peary and the children on board. A boat 
was quickly lowered from the yacht and the 

186 



HOME! 

Peary family was soon united aboard the 
Roosevelt, 

All kinds of sailing craft now met the 
Roosevelt and by them she was escorted into 
the harbor of Sydney, C. B. Whistles were 
blown, thousands of people lined the shores 
of the harbor, cheering enthusiastically and 
waving flags, and as the Roosevelt was moored 
alongside the pier, a delegation of school- 
girls met the Commander, made an address, 
and presented him with a magnificent bouquet. 
The streets were gorgeously decorated and a 
holiday had been declared. A ripe, royal 
welcome was accorded the Roosevelt and the 
members of the expedition. Visitors boarded 
the ship and looted successfully for souvenirs. 

It was at Sydney that the expedition com- 
menced to disband. Commander Peary and 
his family returned to the United States via 
raiboad-train. 

The Roosevelt left Sydney on September 
22 for New York City. A stop was made at 
Eagle Island, in Casco Bay, off the coast of 
Maine, where is located the summer home of 
Commander Peary, and here we landed most 
of his paraphernalia, some sledges and dogs. 

187 



HOME! 

From Eagle Island we steamed direct to 
Sandy Hook, reaching there at noon on 
October 2. The next day the Roosevelt 
took her place with the replica of those two 
historic ships, the Half Moon and the Cler- 
mont^ in the lead of the great naval parade. 

And now my story is ended ; it is a tale that 
is told. "Now IS Othello's occupation gone." 

I long to see them all again! the brave, 
cheery companions of the trail of the North. 
I long to see again the lithe figure of my 
Commander! and to hear again his clear, 
ringing voice urging and encouraging me on- 
ward, with his "Well done, my boy." I want 
to be with the party when they reach the un- 
trod shores of Crocker Land; I yearn to be 
with those who reach the South Pole, the lure 
of the Arctic is tugging at my heart, to me 
the trail is calling! 

"The Old Trail! 
The Trail that is always New!" 



188 



APPENDIX I 

Notes on the Esquimos 

npHE origin of the Esquimos is not known 
-*■ to a certainty. In color they are brown, 
their hair is heavy, straight, coarse, and black. 
In appearance they are short, fat, and well- 
developed ; and they bear a strong resemblance 
to the Mongolian race. 

Among the men of this tribe, quarrels and 
fights very rarely occur ; but it is a very notice- 
able fact that while the men of the tribe do 
not make war on each other, the man of the 
family will, at the least provocation on the 
part of his better-half, without hesitation ap- 
ply brute force to show his authority. 

The tribe of these, the North Greenland 
Esquimos, numbers two hundred and eighteen. 

Great interest was shown by the men when 
working implements, such as we used on board 
ship, were shown them. Eagerly they lis- 
tened while the uses of many of these tools 

189 



THE ESQUIMOS 

were explained to them. The women also 
showed great interest in any article that was 
foreign to them. They have a special liking 
for fancy beads of the smaller variety. 

The Esquimos show a great capacity for 
imitation. They have also a marked sense of 
humor. 

An Esquimo's sense of imitation is so keen 
that it is only necessary for him to observe a 
sledge-maker at work but once, when the 
same type of sledge will be reproduced in a 
very short time. On my last trip north, I 
noticed that the shirts worn by the Esquimos 
were similar in style and cut to our own. In 
1906, the style had been entirely different. 

The Esquimos show no desire to acquire 
the English language. With the exception of 
Kudlooktoo and Inighito, none of the tribe 
could speak English intelligently. The Es- 
quimos' vocabulary is a complication of pre- 
fixes and suffixes, and many words in his 
language are very hard to pronounce. 

The twpiks (tents) are made of seal-skin, 
and are used in summer. The igloos are 
built of snow, and are used in winter. A few 
igloos built of bowlders can be seen. The 

190 



THE ESQUIMOS 

workmanship of tliis latter type of igloos is 
necessarily crude, for the bowlders are used 
in the rough state. On entering the tios- 
coonah (entrance), a bed-platform of stones 
five feet long, and six feet wide, confronts 
one. On each side of this platform are seen 
smaller platforms, each holding a koodlah 
(fire-pot). 

This koodlah is made of a stone so soft that 
before it comes in contact with fire it can 
easily be cut with a knife. The name given 
by the Esquimos to it is okeyoah. Cooking 
utensils are first formed in the desired shape, 
then heat is applied, as a result of which the 
stone quickly hardens. The method of cook- 
ing as employed by the Esquimos is to sus- 
pend the kooleesoo (cooking-pot) over the 
koodlah (fire-pot). The koodlah is the only 
means l)y which hght can be secured in an 
Esquimo igloo. As fuel, the blubber of the 
narwhal is used. 

The clothing of the male Esquimo con- 
sists of a kooletah (deerskin coat with hood 
attached) nanookes (foxskin trousers) and 
kamiks (sealskin boots) ; that of the female 
Esquimo, a kopetah (foxskin coat with hood 

191 



THE ESQUIMOS 

attached) nanookes (foxskin trousers) and 
hip length kamiks (sealskin boots). The 
shirts of the male and female Esquimo are 
made from the skin of the auks, and one hun- 
dred and fifty of these little birds are used in 
the manufacture of one shirt. 

The largest Esquimo family known among 
the North Greenland tribe, numbers six; as 
a rule, an Esquimo family rarely outnumbers 
three. An Esquimo family is not stationary. 
Rarely does a family remain in one place 
longer than one season, which is nine months. 
The principal reason for this constant moving 
is the scarcity of game; for after a season of 
hunting in one place, game becomes very 
scarce; and there is no other alternative but 
for the family to move on. Transportation 
is by means of sledges drawn by a team of 
dogs. Alcoholic drinks are not known among 
this tribe; but, of late, tobacco is extensively 
used. Previous to 1902, before the arrival 
of the Danes, tobacco was an unknown 
quantity. 

The cleanliness of the Esquimos leaves 
room for much improvement. 

With reference to their morals, strictly 

192 



THE ESQUIMOS 

speaking they are markedly lax. The wife 
of an Esquimo is held in no higher esteem 
than are the goods and chattels of the house- 
hold. She may at any time be loaned, bor- 
rowed, sold, or exchanged. They have no 
marriage ceremony. 

The amusements of the Esquimos are few. 
Tests of strength and endurance occur be- 
tween the men of the tribe ; and visits are paid 
to the various settlements, during the long 
winter nights; and songs and choruses are 
sung, accompanied by a kind of tambourine 
which is made from the bladder of a walrus 
or seal, and stretched across the antlers of a 
reindeer. 

The Esquimos are a very superstitious peo- 
ple. In the event of a fatal illness, the vic- 
tim, just before death, is removed to a place 
outside the igloo, for should death enter the 
igloo that dwelling would instantly be de- 
stroyed. If the deceased be a man, he is rolled 
up in a sealskin, and strips of rawhide are 
lashed around the body to keep the skin intact. 
He is then carried to his last resting place. A 
low stone structure is built around the body to 
protect it from the foxes. His sledge, con- 

193 



THE ESQUIMOS 

taming all his belongings, is placed close beside 
this structure, and his dogs harnessed to his 
sledge are strangled, and stretched their full 
length, with their forepaws extended. In the 
event of the deceased being a woman, her cook- 
ing utensils are placed beside her, and should 
she be the mother of a very young infant, its 
life is taken. In the case of a widower, the be- 
reaved Esquimo remains in the igloo for three 
days, during which time a new suit of wearing 
apparel is made, and worn by him, and all 
clothing made by the deceased, is, by him, 
destroyed. His term of mourning now being 
ended, the Esquimo, without more ado, takes 
unto himself a new wife. Members of the 
tribe who have the same name as the deceased 
have to change that name until the arrival of 
a new-born babe, to whom the name is given, 
whereby the ban is removed. The Esquimos 
have no decided form of religion. When 
questioned as to where the soul of the good 
Esquimo will go, they reply by pointing up- 
ward; and by pointing downward, the ques- 
tion is answered as to the final dwelling-place 
of the wicked. 

The main cause of death amongst the Es- 

194 



THE ESQUIMOS 

qiiimos is from a disease the symptoms of 
which are a cough, nausea, and fever, which 
disease quickly causes death. 

It is true that the Esquimos are of httle 
value to the commercial world, due probably 
to their isolated position; but these same un- 
learned and uncivihzed people have rendered 
valuable assistance in the discovery of the 
North Pole. 



195 



APPENDIX II 

List of Smith Sound Esquimos 

(Males marked by an asterisk) 

Ac-com-o-ding^-wah * Ahng-een^'-yah 

Ah-ding^-ah-loo Ahng^-ing-nah 

Ah-dul-ah-ko-tee'-ah * Ahng-ma-lok''-to * 

Ah-dul-ah-ko-tee'-ah * Ahng-nah''-nia 

Ah-ga-tahf Ahng-no-ding'-wah 

Ah-go''-tah * Ahng-o-do-blah'-o * 

Ah-kah-gee''-ah-how Ahng-o-di-gip''-so 

A-ka-ting^-wah Ahng'-od-loo * 

A-ka-ting'-wah Ah-ni-ghi'-to 

Ah-li-kah-sing'-wah Ah-ni-ghi^'-to 

Ah-li-kah-sing^'-wah Ah-ning'-wah 

Ah-li-kah-sing'-wah Ah-ning'-wah 

Ah''-mah Ah-noT/-kah * 

Ah-mame''-ee Ah-now''-kah * 

Ah-mo-ned'-dy Ah'-pel-lah * 

Ah-mung^-wah Ah'-pel-lah * 

Ah-nad'-doo Ah-pu-ding'-wah * 

Ah-nah''-we Ah-say''-oo * 

Ah-nah-wing'-wah Ah'-te-tah 

Ahng-een'-yah * Ah'-te-tah 

196 



SMITH SOUND ESQUIMOS 

Ah-took-sung''-wah E-ling^-wah * 

Ah-tung'-ee-nah E-meen''-yah * 

Ah-tung^-ee-nah E-she-a'-toO' 

Ah-wa-ting'-wah * E-shing^'-wah 

Ah-wa-tok'-suah * E-tood'-loo * 

Ah-wee''-ah E-took''-ah-shoo * 

Ah-wee''-ah E-took''-ali-shoo * 

Ah-wee-ah-good''-loo E-too-shok'-swah 

Ah-wee-aung-o'-nah E''-vah-loo 

Ah-wee'-i-ah * E''-vah-loo 

Ah-we-ging''-wah * E''-we 
Ah-we-shung''-wah * 

Ah-wok-tun'-ee-ah I-ah-ping^-wah * 

Ak-pood-ah-shah'-o * I-ah-ping'-wah * 

Ak-pood-ah-shah'-o * Ig-lood-ee-ark^-swee * 

Ak-pood''-ee-ark * Ihr^-lee * 

Ak-pood-e-uk'-ee Ik''-wah * 

A-le'-tah * Ik-kile-e-oo^-shah 

Ar-nay-ah Il-kah-lin'-ah 

Al-nay-du'-ah Il-kli-ah' * 

Ar-ke'-o* Il-kli-aV * 

Ar-ke'-o* In-ad-lee'-ah 

Ar-ke'-o* In-ad-lee'-ah 

In'-ah-loo 

E-gee'^-ah * In-i-ghi''-to * 

E-ging'-wah * In-i-ghi'-to * 

E-ging'-wah * In-i-gh^-to * 

E-lay-ting'-wah In-noo''-i-tah * 

197 



SMITH SOUND ESQUIMOS 



In-noo-tah' 

In-noo-tah^ 

In-u-ah-pud'-o * 

In-u-ah''-o 

In-yah-lung'-wali 

I-on'-ah 

I-o-wif-ty* 

Jacok-su'-nah * 

Kah^-dah * 
Kah-ko-tee'-ah 
Kah-ko-tee'-ah * 
Kah-shad^-doo 
Kah-shoo''-be-doa * 
Kai-o-ang'-wah * 
Kai-o-ang^-wah * 
Kar-oh * 
Kai-o-look'-to * 
Kai-o'-tah * 
Kai-we-ark'-shah * 
Kai-we-ing^-wah * 
Ka^-we-kah * 
Kal-ung'-wah * 
Kang-nah' * 
Kes-shoo' * 
Ke-shung'-wah * 
Klay'-oo 



Klay''-oo 
Klay-ung^-wah 
EQip-e-sok^'-swah * 
Kood'-ee-puck 
Kood^loo-tin'-ah * 
Kood-loo-tiii''-ah * ( or 

Koolatoonah) 
Koo-e-tig'-e-tO' * 
KooMee 

Kool-oo-ting^-wah * 
Koo-u-pee'' 
Koo-u-pee' 
Kud'-ah-shah * 
Kud^-lah * 
Kud^-lah * 
Kud-lun'-ah * 
Kud-look'-too * 
Ky-u-tah * 

Ma-gip^-soo 
Mah-so'-nah * 
Mah-so''-nah * 
Mah-so'-nah * 
Mah-so'-nah * 
Mark-slng^-wah * 
Mee'-tik * 
Mee'-tik * 
Me-gip'-soo 
198 



SMITH SOUND ESQUIMOS 



Mek'-kah 

Me'-ne * 

Merk-to-shah' * 

Mok'-sah * 

Mok-sang'-wah 

Mok-sang'-wah 

Mon^-nie 

Mon''-nie 

Micky'-shoo 

My'-ah * 

M j-o'-tah * 

Nay-dee-ing'-wah 

Nel-lee'-kah 

Nel-lee-ka-tee'-ah 

Net'-too 

Net'-too 

New-e-king^-wah 

New-e-king^-wah 

New-e-king''-wah 

New-hate'-e-lah'-o * 

New-hate'-e-lah''-o * 

New-kah-ping^-wah * 

Nip-sang^-wah * 

Now-o-yatMoe 

Nup'^-sah 

Og^-we * 



Oo-ah-oun' * 
Oo-bloo'-yah * 
Oo-bloo'-yah * 
Oo''-mah * 
Oo-que'-ah * 
Oo'-tah * 
Oo-tun'-iah 
Oo-we''-ah-oop * 
Oo-we-she-a'-too 

Pan'-ik-pah * 
Pee-ah-wah'-to * 
Poo-ad-loo'-nah* 
Poo-ad-loo'-nah * 
Poo-ad-loo''-nah * 
PoobMah * 
Poob^-lah * 
Pood-lung'-wah 
Poo'-too 

Sag^-wah 
Sat'-too * 
Seeg'-loo * 
S een-o-ung^-wah 
See-o-dee-kah'-to 
Shoo-e-king'-wah 
Sim''-e-ah 
Sin-ah'-ew 
199 



SMITH SOUND ESQUIMOS 



Sip'-soo 
Sow'-nah 
Suk''-kun * 
Sul-ming^-wah * 

Tah'-tah-rah * 
Tah''-wah-nah * 
Taw-ching^-wah * 
Taw-ching^-wah * 
Teddy-ling'-wah * 
Toi-tee'-ah * 
Took-e-ming^-wah 
Too'-koom-ah 
Tu-bing'-wah 



Tung-wing'-wah 
Tung^-we * 

Ung^-ah * 

We'-ark 
We-shark^-oup-si * 

Two female babies not 
named 

Male . 12^ 

Female 96 

Total 218 



THE END 



200 



63 4 



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